The Book of the Fallen
by LolAya
Summary: Lucy found a mysterious book and brought it to the guild, not knowing what it will bring. Summary sucks. NaLu and maybe some other pairings. T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1 A Mysterious Book

Hey! :D This is my first fanfic EVER. So it kinda sucks (to me.)

And also, my grammar can sometimes be a pain.

Any form of critical advice is welcomed and I wish you can review, state your opinion, so my next fanfic can be better. (If I ever had anymore.)

And for the last, I don't own Fairy Tail :)

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><p>Chapter 1<p>

Lucy walked in the guild with a small frown on her pretty face. A few hours ago, she was on her way to the guild when she passed by a new bookstore that just opened recently beside her apartment. She decided to take a look inside and found a mysterious book with elegant gold curves in the cover and binding but with no title. She wanted to open the book but it wouldn't open even a bit, and was about to put it back when everything went black (wow, it rhymes). After a moment, she found herself outside her apartment and the bookstore was nowhere to be found, what was supposed to be the bookstore is now just an empty lot on sale.

She wanted to figure out what happened a few minutes ago and how to open that damn book, and didn't want to be disturbed. So she went in the guild silently, trying not to seek unnecessary attention, especially Natsu, and sat at the farthest corner where there are less people.

She was about to recall what happened when a cute voice said her name. The owner of the voice, Levy, came up behind her and patted her back, startling Lucy.

"Oh, hey, Levy-chan." Lucy smiled "What's up?"

"What do you mean what's up?" The blue haired mage said "You just went in the guild ignoring my greeting and came to the most unnoticeable corner! And you ask me 'what's up'?"

"Uh….sorry about that. I was thinking about something and besides, the noise is too loud, how am I supposed to hear you through the yells of Natsu and Gray?"

"You got a point" Levy said. "By the way, that's a nice book you've got. Where did you get it?"

Lucy hesitated. _Should I tell her? What if she thinks I'm crazy? No, you should trust her, that's what friends do, right? BAD Lucy._ "Umm…..you might not believe me. But first, do you know that new bookstore beside my apartment?"

"Huh? Isn't it just an empty lot on sale? If there's a bookstore there, I would probably ask you if I can be your roommate."

Seeing Levy's confused face, Lucy decided to tell her the truth.

"Sigh….ok, I'll tell you. Actually, when I went out of my apartment this morning, I saw a bookstore beside my apartment and went in, without realizing that it's supposed to be an empty lot. When I went in, I saw this book and everything went black. I woke up standing outside my apartment with this book in hand." After telling her everything, Lucy waited for Levy's reaction. Seeing that she didn't react a bit, Lucy covered her face with her hands and said "ok, I know my story is unbelievable, so it's fine if you think I'm a freak."

She waited for Levy to say something, but nothing came. She peeked through her fingers and saw Levy trying to open the book. She tried with everything she got but still couldn't pry the book open.

"Uhh…..Levy? It's no use. I also tried but it just won't open."

Levy stared at the book with defeat on her face, and then suddenly she got an idea.

"Wait here, I've got an idea." She placed the book on the table and ran out of the guild, leaving a confused Lucy.

"Hey Luce." A voice behind her said out loud. "That's a nice book you've got."

Lucy turned around and saw Natsu standing behind her, with bruises on his face. "What happened to your face?" Lucy pointed at his face, even though she could already guess what happened.

"Oh, this? Erza found out that me and Gray were fighting and beat us up. So, what's with the book and Levy running out of the guild?" Natsu pointed at the gate of the guild where Levy ran off to.

_Hmm…I wonder if I should tell him_. Lucy thought. _Maybe I should wait till Levy comes back_.

"I'll tell you when Levy comes back."

Natsu nodded and grabbed the book. "Hmm…? It won't open. Is this book locked?"

_I told you I'll tell you when Levy comes back!_ Lucy sighed angrily. Sometimes Natsu can be really annoying. "No, it doesn't have a lock."

"Hey, Erza! Come 'ere for a sec." the fire mage yelled across the room, calling for the scarlet haired woman. "What is it?"

Natsu explained the book to Erza and asked (politely) if she can open it. Erza tried and couldn't, and called Elfman. All of them tried and failed and kept calling somebody to try, a few even tried again, and soon, almost the entire guild members circled around the table Lucy sat in.

"What a big commotion. Excuse me, thanks. Hey Lu-chan. I think I found something." Levy squeezed passed the people and dropped a _really_ big book on the table. She opened it to a bookmarked page and pointed to a paragraph.

"See here? It says _'a mysterious book with no title, in order to turn the cover, the owner must recite these incantations three times with the right hand on the cover and the left palm upwards.'_ this sounds like that book. So that means Lucy you should recite the incantations here." Levy said aloud so everyone can hear.

"Me? Why me?"

"Because you're the one who got that book in the first place, so you're the owner right now."

Lucy frowned and pulled Levy's book toward her. "How am I going to read this? I don't even know what kind of language is this."

"Just try it."

Lucy sighed and placed her right palm on the cover of the mysterious book and her left palm upwards, facing the ceiling. She eyed the incantations again and felt energy pulsing from the book to her palm and then here whole body. Even though she doesn't recognize the words on the book, she said it out loud fluently, without any help. After reading three times, the pulsing began to slow and eventually fade. Everyone had their eyes glued to the book while Lucy slowly turned the cover.

All of them held their breath. "What the? There's nothing written on it!"

"Wait." Lucy said calmly. "There's something, even though it's faint, but something's written on it. Let me see…." She held the book closer and tried to read the words. _"Evanescere."_

"Huh?" but before anyone said anything else, they were surrounded by a blinding light and everything went black, again.


	2. Chapter 2 Where Are The Others?

Hey :D Here's the new chapter! I'm so happy that many people liked this story.

Since school here has started, I may not be able to publish frequently,

but I will try to publish a new chapter weekly. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, I wish I could, though.

Chapter 2

Lucy opened her eyes and stared at the sky. _What just happened? I remember there was a blinding light and everyone…OMG! Where's everybody!_ She sat up immediately and a piercing pain exploded in her head.

"Oww….." She bent down her head between her knees and sighed in pain. When the pain finally faded away, she took a look around and realized that she was in a forest. "Where am I?" She asked aloud, as if someone can actually hear and answer her. A rustle of leaves behind her made her jump and her vision blurred. G_od dammit, I'm gonna fall!_ She braced herself and closed her eyes, but the impact never came, instead, two strong arms wrapped around her, stopping the fall.

Natsu placed Lucy on the ground gently and placed the branches beside her. "Hey, Luce. You shouldn't be standing up yet. You used a lot of magical energy for that spell and you shouldn't be able to walk until next morning." He piled up the branches and blew fire on it.

"Natsu."

"Yeah?"

"Where are we?" Lucy asked, leaning on a tree bark for support. Indeed, her legs felt shaky and she can't even move most of her limbs.

"I dunno." Natsu said quietly. He stared at the fire for a while. "When I woke up, I only saw you beside me, the rest are missing."

"Can't you trace them with your nose?" Everybody knows that Natsu has a nose better than any animal and can trace any scent.

"Nope. This place is full of new scents I don't recognize and it's all mixed up together, confusing me."

Both of them fell silent. Lucy glanced at Natsu and saw him deep in thought (since when can Natsu be "deep in thought"? XD). He made a worried face and frowned. _Probably thinking about all of our nakama._ "Natsu? How long was I out?"

"Not long. A few days, maybe?"

Lucy's eye's widened as she heard what he said. "A FEW DAYS? I was out that long?" _How much magical power have I used to be out for that long?_

Natsu tilted his head, confused. "Yeah. Good thing I was with you, or else you'd be eaten by who knows what."

"You were taking care of me?"

He nodded. "Never left your side. If I did, only for food and firewood, I guess."

Lucy blushed in a deep shade of red. _Natsu was taking care of me the whole time I was out!_ She felt her face burn up and turned away; hoping that Natsu won't notice, but unfortunately, he saw it.

"Hey, your face is red. Are you having a fever?" Natsu asked, standing up and sitting in front of Lucy.

"I-I'm fine." Lucy stuttered, blushing even more. She was about to push him away but he caught her arm and leaned forward. Lucy caught her breath and widened her eyes even more. Natsu placed his forehead on hers, their face inches away from each other.

_Holy shit. His face is so close! I think I can hear my own heartbeat._ Lucy said aloud in her head. _Wow, his eyelashes are pretty long, why haven't I noticed it before? His skin is hot, but smooth. And his lips…_Lucy stared at his lips and wondered how would it feel if she put her own on his?

"Hmm…." Natsu's voice broke her train of thoughts and she realized what she was thinking. "Looks like you don't have a fever."

"Uhh….I think you're forgetting that you have high body temperature…" Lucy sighed, relieved that he stood up, but flushed red again when he sat at her left.

"So what?" Natsu asked with a goofy smile.

Lucy sighed again. "Never mind." She closed her eyes, wanting to sleep, but the image of Natsu's face kept on appearing. _Dammit all! Why can't I peacefully go to sleep!_ She tried to push the image away but it changed to her and Natsu kissing. That made her blush, and she unconsciously licked her lips. Meanwhile, Natsu caught the scent of desire coming from Lucy, he glanced at her and saw her lick her lips which made him want to lean down and press his lips on hers. This thought surprised him and made him blush, too.

"DAMN!" Lucy yelled, shocking Natsu.

"What is it?"

"I can't sleep…"

"Why?"

"B-because…" _I obviously can't tell him that the image of me and him kissing is the reason why I can't sleep, can I?_ "I-I…I just can't." She stared at the ground.

Natsu stared at her quizzically. "Don't worry! I'm here, aren't I? Nothing to worry about."

_That's exactly why I'm worried…_ Lucy thought glumly. "S-still."

"Well, you can lie on my shoulder." Natsu patted his shoulder and smiled at her.

_That will make the situation even worse!_ "N-no…"

"Come on!" Natsu placed his right palm on her right cheek and forced Lucy to lay her head on his shoulder. "There. Isn't it better?"

Lucy sighed. It is better, the thought of the image a while ago still made Lucy awake. But soon enough, she fell asleep on his shoulder.

Natsu felt Lucy relaxed on his shoulder and saw her finally asleep. He took opportunity of this time and studied her. Her hair was soft and ticklish on his bare skin and it had a sweet scent. _Lucy's scent._ Natsu thought. He inhaled deeper, taking in the scent of Lucy and wanting more. He wondered if she wore any perfume, but recalled that Lucy didn't have any bottle of fragrance back in her apartment. _So this is Lucy's personal scent, huh?_

He watched as Lucy breathed in and out, eyelashes trembling a little bit, as if she was having a dream. _Wonder if it's a good dream?_ Natsu asked himself, silently wishing that he was in there too. _What the? What am I thinking? How can…_He mentally slapped himself so many times until Lucy let out a small moan. He stopped and stared at her again, this time focusing on her lips.

_I wonder how it tastes like._ Natsu imagined putting his lips on hers and wondered if she'll wake up if he really did so. He was so mesmerized at her beauty and leaned forward, when a branch somewhere near them cracked. He stiffened and relieved when it was only a small animal.

_What was I thinking?_ Natsu punched himself and decided to keep watch, but it was harder than he thought when knowing that Lucy's sleeping on his shoulder.

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><p>So... What do you guys think?<p>

Please review. Your opinion on this is the only matter that can make me write more interesting stories, and it might even improve my writing ability.

And I noticed that there aren't any interesting parts here except for between Lucy and Natsu.

I'll make it better and more action next chapter.


	3. Chapter 3  Meeting Up with Gray

Last chapter was kind of a mess to me, and I also felt like I rushed it a bit, so in this chapter, I shall add more action and concentrate on finding their lost nakama while finding a way to get out of that place. Enjoy :)

And sorry for the late update. School here just started and has a lot of work to do.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. It belongs to Hiro Mashima.

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><p>Chapter 3<p>

Lucy reached out her left hand and felt nothing but dry leaves, she shot up. "Natsu?" she called out, afraid that something has happened to him. She saw him sitting in front of the fire, his back facing her.

Natsu heard some rustling of dry leaves and Lucy's voice. He turned around and saw that Lucy has already woken up. "Mornin' Luce." He said with a grin, and Lucy sighed in relief. "I made breakfast, you want some?"

He moved aside and showed her the fish that's being grilled beside the fire. Lucy caught the scent of food and her stomach grumbled.

"Fish? Is there a river?" She grabbed the fish almost eagerly and started munching on it. After a few bites, her stomach calmed down and started eating slowly.

"No river, but there's a lake." Natsu said, pointing at a direction. "Found it a while ago while searching for food." He reached out for a fish and gobbled it, spitting a few fish bones. "Let'sh go an' find 'em apter," He said, his mouth stuffed with food.

"Can't you swallow before talking?" Lucy glared at him, disgusted. "But can we go to the lake first? I want to take a quick shower."

"Why now?"

"Because, who knows when will we get a shower again?"

"Fine." Natsu murmured quietly. Lucy sighed. She knows Natsu is eager to find their lost nakama as soon as possible, but she really can't stand not taking a bath for days.

Both of them didn't talk and an awkward silence fell between them. Lucy suddenly remembered what happened last night and did a mental face slap. _What the hell? Think of something else! THINK OF SOMETHING ELSE!_ She wished she could delete everything that happened last night, unfortunately, she can't. She blushed at the memory of the things that happened last night and glanced at Natsu. He was staring at the fire with slightly blushing cheeks. _Natsu? Blushing? I wonder what he's thinking about._ (I bet you lot can guess what's running inside his head.)

"Umm…..you can eat the fire, if you want to." She tried to sound calm while looking away.

"Oh! Uh…okay." Natsu looked up and Lucy turned her head. Both of them made eye contact without even meaning to.

They turned away at the same time, their faces turning into a deeper shade of red.

"Umm…..why don't you take me to the lake?"

Natsu nodded and ate the fire. "This way." He stood up and started walking towards the woods and Lucy followed behind him. Along the way, neither of them said a word which was unusual, especially for Natsu, who always chatters, even for the smallest of things. There were a lot of trees and Lucy had to pay attention for low hanging branches. One almost cut her face.

"We're here." Natsu turned around and flashed a grin at her. In front of them was a huge lake that had to be half the size of Magnolia. The water was crystal clear, being able to see the fish swimming in it, and the sun light reflecting on the water made it shine like a diamond.

"Oh, my god." Lucy gaped at the beautiful scene, dumfounded. "It's breathtaking…"

"I know, right?" Natsu grinned. "There's a small waterfall somewhere there, you can take your shower there." He pointed at the left. Lucy pushed pass the bushes and, true enough, there was a miniature waterfall. She walked near it and reached to touch the running water. "Great! The water's not that heavy." She turned around to glare at Natsu. "You go there and do whatever you want, but I dare you to peek.

Natsu nodded and walked to the lake where he can't see Lucy. "And if I see you peeking, I'll definitely scoop your eyeballs out!" Lucy yelled.

Natsu shuddered and walked even farther, just in case Lucy sees him and accuses him for peeking and _really_ scoops out his eyeballs. She can really be scary sometimes, even scarier than Erza.

"Besides, who would want to see your…" but before he can finish his sentence, he heard Lucy's scream coming from the bushes.

"KYAAH!"

"Lucy!" Natsu dashed to where Lucy was. _If anyone dares to put his dirty hands on her, I'll…!_ But when he pushed away the bushes, a rock hit him straight in the face. "Oww…." Natsu groaned.

"I told you not to peek!" Lucy said, red-faced.

"I wasn't! I heard you scream and then….." he glanced to the pool under the waterfall and saw a body face-down in the water. "Who's that?"

"I don't know. He jumped out of the bushes and I threw a rock at him. I thought he was a hentai."

Natsu turned his eyes to Lucy and quickly turned away again, blushing. "Luce….you're still in your underwear."

"Huh?" She looked down and realized that she wasn't wearing anything but her bra and panties. "Kyah! Where are my clothes?"

Lucy took her clothes and ran behind a bush.

_W__hy do I feel so hot? I've seen her only in a towel for a hundred times in her apartment and I've never felt this way before, what the hell's happening?_ Natsu took a deep breathe and struggled to keep his heart beat down.

Lucy quickly put on her clothes and both of them pulled the person out of the water, still facing down. The person, a man, wasn't wearing any shirt, just pants and shoes. They had a feeling that they might now this person very well. "Is this…?" Lucy asked.

"Only one way to find out." Natsu shrugged and turned the person around.

"GRAY!" They said in unison. The person was wearing a cross around his neck and had a Fairy Tail tattoo on his chest, definitely Gray.

"Wake up, ice brain!" Natsu yelled and punched him in the face. Lucy sighed and was about to tell him that that was not the correct way to wake people up when Gray opened his eyes and moaned.

"Told 'ya." Natsu grinned at her, and a fist punched his face upward.

"What'd you do that for, hothead?" Gray sat up and yelled at Natsu.

"Of course to wake you up, moron!"

They started throwing punches and kicks while swearing at each other. On the other hand, Lucy just stood there, staring at them, losing her patience by every passing second.

"Both of you…" she growled slowly, glaring at the duo.

"Y-yes, ma'am!" they squeaked. They stopped fighting and stood straight. Both of them sweat dropped, Lucy had the potential to surpass Erza in the matter of giving out death glares and scary threats.

"I want to take a shower. PEACEFULLY. And you will stay out there and wait until I'm done, no fighting, understood?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"And one more thing. _DON'T PEEK_." Lucy gave them the if-you-dare-to-peek-I-will-send-you-to-the-deepest-depths-of-hell glare and turned around. The boys ran to the other side of the lake as fast as they can where they can't see Lucy and sat down.

"Man, she can really be scary." Gray shivered at the memory of her glare; it was prickling on his skin. Not even Erza can compete with her.

"You said it." Natsu swallowed hard. "By the way, what happened to you after Lucy read out the incantation?"

"Well, I woke up lying on the ground not far from here. I wanted to find you guys and I heard Lucy's voice. When I jumped out of the bushes, she threw a rock at me. How could I know that she was undressing? How 'bout you?"

"Serves you right. I also woke up lying on the ground somewhere not far, and Lucy was beside me. We came to this lake because she wanted to take a shower, and then I heard her scream. You know what happened next."

Gray touched the bruise under his left eye and Natsu on his right cheek. Both of them winced at the pain. "How can she throw with this great precision and accuracy?" Gray asked.

"Because, I asked Sagittarius to teach me." Lucy said, appearing beside them.

"That was quick." Natsu eyed Lucy, she was still wearing her clothes before but her hair was dripping wet. "Less than five minutes."

"Well, I know you want to find our nakama ASAP. Besides, I _did_ say 'quick' shower." Lucy rolled her eyes. "So, Gray, do you have any idea where the others are?"

"Nope, but I might have a clue on where Erza is."

"Really? How and where?"

"Last night, I heard an old man talking on this weird device and heard that there was a peculiar red-haired woman somewhere in a town at north."

"Then we should get going." Lucy said, twisting her hair like a towel to squeeze the water out. "But where the hell is north?"

Gray took out a compass from his pocket. "Here, the old man gave this to me." Lucy looked at the compass for a while and pointed at a direction. "So north is that way." She nodded. Since now they have a clue, it'll be much easier to find their lost guild mates. "But, are we going to walk all the way from here to that town? Who knows how long it'll take?"

"The old man said three days if you travel by foot."

"As long as it doesn't involve traveling on vehicles, I'm fine with that! LET'S GO!" Natsu punched the air and started running to the direction Lucy pointed. Gray and Lucy sighed and followed. The group didn't notice the crow that was staring at them the whole time. After they went far enough, the bird let out an eerie noise and flew away, leaving some feathers behind.

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><p>So, what do you think? :) Please leave a review on how you think about this story, the more reviews I get, the more faster I publish a new chapter :D Thanks a lot.<p> 


	4. Chapter 4 Search for Erza

So, I've finally published chapter 4! I'm so happy. And thanks to the reviews and advice given to me by you guys, I'm blessed to have you as readers (teardrop).

And now, on with the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail; I only own the plot to this story. The others belong to Hiro Mashima.

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><p>Chapter 4<p>

"I'm tired. Let's rest for a bit." Lucy said, wiping the sweat on her forehead. They've been walking for two days already and her feet are starting to complain. She sat on a rock. Surprisingly, there weren't any wild beasts, considering that they're in a forest.

"It's the tenth time you said that, you know?" Gray said.

"But we've been walking non-stop after sunrise, it's just too much!"

"I thought you wanted to get to the town ASAP."

"I know. But…" Lucy whined. There are blisters forming at the bottom of her feet. This exceeded Lucy's limit and she really can't take it anymore.

"Hey, you guys are so slow! The town's right there, I can see it already." Natsu yelled at them. Everyday after sunrise, he walked the fastest. Despite how much he wanted to, he can't run because they, especially Lucy, might not catch up with him. And right now, he was a good few meters ahead of them.

"You're the one walking too fast, fire-breath!" Gray said to Natsu, "and Lucy can't walk anymore. Why don't we stay here for the night?" He looked up and saw that the sun was already setting.

Natsu wanted to yell back at him, but decided to punch him later in the face instead when he saw Lucy's exhausted face. "Fine, but we set out tomorrow at daybreak." The town's not that far."

Lucy nodded and stood up, feet wobbling, and tried to walk to a nearby log to sit down, the rock was too hard. But when she took a step, the blister on her foot threatened to pop as she put pressure on it.

"Damn…" she hissed in pain.

"What's wrong?" Gray asked, steadying her.

"Blister…"

Gray sighed and put a hand on her shoulder, wanting to help her, but was pushed away by Natsu. He lifted Lucy up, bridal style.

"What the…" Lucy yelped in surprise, face blushing.

"What the hell's wrong with you?" Gray said in annoyance. He was just trying to help.

"I'll do it." Natsu glared at the ice mage, and he instantly knew what was going on.

"Oh, I get it." He smirked. "Just what have you two been doing before we met up?" and his smirk grew wider as he saw the blush on both of their faces. _Oh, kami-sama, I've never thought that I'd see this bastard like this. Now I have something to tease them with._

"It's none of you're fuckin' business, now quit the yapping!"

Natsu placed Lucy gently on the log and sat on the ground beside her. Gray sat across them, the smirk still on his face. The atmosphere between them has obviously changed. Before all of this happened, they just treat each other like nakama, even though they seem to be always together and they treat each other a little bit more that normal "friends" do. Sure, everyone in the guild knows that they have feelings for each other, and that they're too dense to realize it, but to be the first one to know that there are some changes, and good ones at that, he feels the pride that's swelling inside him. _Wait till Mira-san knows about this…_

Natsu suddenly stood up and walked to Gray. Just as Gray was wondering what he's gonna do, Natsu punched him in the face, hard.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"For calling me 'fire-breath' a little while ago. Don't tell me you forgot it!" Natsu yelled.

"Well, it's true! What do you want me to call you? Pea-brain?" Gray shot back and punched Natsu.

"Exhibitionist!"

"Hot-head!"

"Popsicle!"

"Fire torch!"

Lucy massaged her temple while listening to them calling each other names. It's not that she hasn't dealt with this before, but it's much easier when Erza's around. But tomorrow, they will go to the town and find her, as according to the "old man" Gray mentioned. Lucy frowned. She's wondering what an old man is doing in a forest. Taking a walk, perhaps? But it's too far from town. Maybe he lives in the forest? But Gray said he didn't find any tent in the area near where he saw the old man, much less a house or a cabin.

"Snowflake!"

"Bastard!"

"Exhibitionist!"

"Baka! You said that earlier!"

"Oh, did I? Then, droopy eyes!"

Lucy's eye twitched. For how long are they going to call each other names?

"Will you guys quit it!" Lucy yelled. She can't stand getting angry at them every second. "I just want to sleep peacefully, is that too much to ask? Why can't both of you just stop being jerks once in a while and let me get some rest!"

"S-sorry…" Both of them squeaked and Lucy sighed. Oh how desperate she is to meet with Erza.

~o~0~o~0~o~0~o~

Next morning, after eating breakfast, they set out again to the town. Lucy bandaged her feet a bit so the blister won't rub against her shoes that much.

"Look, it's the town entrance!" Natsu pointed. The town was surrounded by a tall brick wall and at the entrance there was a sign that read "Magdalena".

"I've never heard of a town called 'Magdalena' before." Lucy said.

They went inside the gate and the town was much like Magnolia, the buildings were similar and the clothing people wore didn't have that much difference from theirs. The only thing worth mentioning was that it didn't have magic. No vendors were selling magic related things and there didn't seem to be a single guild.

"Weird…they don't have magic…where are we, exactly?" Lucy murmured to herself in a voice low enough so Natsu and Gray can't hear her.

"Natsu, can you smell Erza?" Gray asked Natsu.

"Hmm…*sniff* *sniff*…her scent is faint, but damn right she was here." Natsu said, grinning. "Now we just have to find her!"

Lucy looked around and saw a map. It was a map of the town. "But, this town is big, why don't we ask the townspeople? Erza has scarlet hair that anybody would be able to remember, and don't forget about the armor."

"Lucy's right. Let's split up and search, and meet here after an hour."

"Whatever. Now, let's go!" Natsu said and ran straight forward, leaving the two behind. They looked at each other and sighed. They split up too and ran to the opposite direction.

An hour after, the three of them met at the exact place where they split up and none of them has seen Erza.

"Where the hell is she?" Natsu yelled in frustration.

"Maybe she's already out of town?"

"No, I asked the guards at the entrance and they contacted the others at the other entrances and none of them has seen a scarlet hair woman go out." They went to a café and sat down. Lucy pulled out a map from the pocket of her skirt and laid it on the table.

"Where'd you get that map? Stole it?" Natsu asked.

"Of course not, are you stupid? I bought it." Lucy rarely swears and that made Natsu and Gray surprised.

"So, we are currently at the southern area of the town. Natsu searched the west, Gray the east and I searched at the town center. The only place where we didn't search is the northern section of town. Erza might be there." Lucy pointed at the north area of the map. The town was big, and if they didn't split up, it would probably cost them a day to search the whole town.

"Hmm….the people said they recall a woman with scarlet hair and she was wearing armor, but they don't know where she is right now."

"Great. Now we'll just have to search the northern section."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Natsu said. He can't wait to find Erza already.

"Can you give me ten minutes to rest? Not everybody is like you!" Lucy said to Natsu in annoyance. Her mood was getting bad just with dealing with Natsu. Natsu shot her a surprised look, before they came to this place, Lucy has never been this annoyed with him, except, of course when he went in her apartment without her permission or when he burned her stuff, just what happened to her?

They all ordered a drink, and, after paying for it, they set out to the north section.

"Good thing I brought some jewels with me." Lucy sighed. Natsu and Gray didn't bring any money with them so she had to pay for them. But she did make them promise to pay her back as soon as they have money.

"Yeah. But they didn't seem to be happy about the jewels, maybe their currency is different with ours."

Lucy thought about what she said to Natsu, and she wanted to apologize. During the search for Erza, she thought about a lot of things and her head was aching, so she couldn't control her emotions. Suddenly, Natsu, who was walking ahead of them, as usual, stopped and sniffed the air.

"*Sniff*…I can smell Erza, and she just passed by!" Natsu ran ahead of them and they followed him in a gray building. What they saw inside had them stunned.

"Erza!" Lucy cried out, shocked by the scene in front of her.

They saw Erza, alright, but the reunion they were assuming was quite…no, totally different from this one. She was behind bars and her hand was cuffed to the wall with funny looking hand cuffs and her feet were bound together by chains, not to mention her armor was missing.

Erza, the great Titania of Fairy Tail, was captured.

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><p>So? What do you think? Please let me know your opinion by reviewing. Thanks a lot :)<p> 


	5. Chapter 5 Break Out

I've finally finished chapter 5! It took me a while to finish this. School just started at our place and I've been struggling to fight with my worst enemy – homework – for the past few weeks. Not to mention that I have tennis and karate to attend. My time's really limited right now (While my parents aren't looking or away, I write this chapter, but they aren't gone for long, so I can only write this on an on-and-off basis.) at least I got this chapter finished.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT Fairy Tail.

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><p>Chapter 5<p>

Erza thought she heard Lucy call her name. She smiled bitterly at herself. It would be impossible for Lucy to come here. _Besides, I would be very embarrassed if they saw me in this state._ Erza Scarlet, Titania of Fairy Tail, locked up in this ridiculous cell. _What would they think?_ But despite this thought, deep inside of her, she still wished that it _is_ Lucy. Unconsciously, she turned her head to where she heard the voice, and boy, was she stunned. In front of her, out side the bars; there was Natsu, Lucy, and Gray, all the same expression as hers.

"Lucy? Natsu and Gray, too!" Erza cried out loud, glad that they were safe, yet embarrassed at them for letting them see her in this condition. She felt the familiar shot of electricity coming from her wrists. _Damn hand cuffs._ Erza swore to herself. She tried to hide her pain and frustration, but the movement could not escape Gray's eyes. He thought those weird looking handcuffs smelled fishy, and when he saw Erza made a slight twitch when she yelled out loud, he instantly knew that those hand cuffs were doing the trick.

"Erza? Are you okay?" Lucy asked with a worried expression. Erza nodded, but made no sound. She pointed her chin gently towards the door where they came from, obviously telling them to go away. "But we can't just leave you here!"

"Yeah! We came here to find you. You can't tell us to leave without you!" Natsu said.

Erza shook her head and glared at them. Usually, it would send shivers on their spines, but looking at her locked up behind the bars and staring straight into her eyes, she didn't seem so scary.

"Whatever. I'm gonna break those bars and rescue you!" Natsu said, stretching his arms. _Finally! I can break something!_

But before he can make a step, another door at their right was pushed open. Two guards, enormous in size, stepped from the door and immediately saw them. They wore full body armor including a helmet and sword, your typical knight, just a little over-sized.

"Who are you people?" guard no. 1 asked.

"And why do you look like you're gonna punch the bars?" guard no. 2 followed.

Lucy quickly pulled Natsu back and pushed his raised arm down. Gray stepped out and quickly raised his hands, palm facing the two guards. "We're not here to cause havoc; we just wanna know what happened to this woman here." He pointed at Erza, who, strangely, started to doze off.

Both of the guards looked at each other for a few seconds. "Is she a close friend?"

Gray nodded. "Then I think it's ok to tell you." Guard no. 1 nodded to guard no. 2.

"Well, it' no big deal actually. The offence she committed was that she destroyed public property and hurt the mayor, and she used magic."

"That's all?" Gray asked, his eyebrow perked up.

Both of them nodded. "Though the mayor _was_ beaten up enough to stay in the hospital for a year, maybe more, considering that he's already old." Guard no. 1 added.

"So what did the mayor do to her that made her use violence?" Lucy asked.

Both of the guards looked up, paying attention to the blonde for the first time. They got a good look at her and studied her, most especially her chest. Natsu saw them scanning Lucy and caught the scent of desire coming from those two. He growled and barked at them. "Hey! Hurry up and answer the question!"

They got startled by Natsu and guard no. 1 stammered. "Uh…i-it was because the mayor touched her butt."

Lucy was dumbfounded. _That's all?_ But she imagined herself at Erza case, and most definitely, she would do the same as what Erza did.

"Man, it took us a lot of tries to finally capture her." Guard no. 1 said to guard no. 2, who nodded.

"We lost more than half of our men to capture her, good thing we used those handcuffs. Right, Bob?" this quickly caught Gray's attention. He chuckled to himself on the "lost half of their men" part. Obviously, they are no match to Erza, she was probably caught off guard when they were putting on those handcuffs.

"So, what's so special about those hand cuffs?"

"It was invented to cut off the magical flow of a person's body. If those hand cuffs were put on your hand, you won't be able to use magic." Guard no. 2 said proudly.

Lucy noticed that Erza was sleeping soundly, as if she hadn't had slept for a week. "You said it cuts off the magical power in the body, but why is she sleeping?"

Guard no. 1 scratched the back of his head. "Eh, because she's simply too strong, the previous hand cuffs were destroyed by her bare handedly."

"This is a newly invented one. It can suck out the physical strength of a person's body, no matter how strong he or she is." Guard no. 2 added. "But it's still in the experimental period."

The three of them widened their eyes. "So you mean that you're using her as a lab rat?" Lucy said, anger forming at the bottom of her stomach. "What if she dies?"

The guards just shrugged. "She _is_ subjected to death penalty anyways."

"When it's practically the mayor's fault!" Lucy exclaimed through clenched teeth. She can feel the rage building up in Natsu's body and noticed how deadly silent Gray was. "It's his fault for harassing women at the first place!"

"Hey, we're just following orders from the mayor, we can't do anything 'bout that."

Lucy sighed angrily. She wanted Natsu and Gray to punch those guys out cold and get the hell out of here, but she still needed to know more about Erza's condition and how to get those hand cuffs off.

"Let's get back to our previous topic. Is it possible to destroy those hand cuffs by pure force?"

They didn't reply immediately. "Why are you asking us these questions?"

"What do you mean? I'm just trying to expand my knowledge." Lucy tried to sound and look offended by their question. The two guards turned around.

'Do you think we should tell her?' Guard no. 1 whispered to guard no. 2.

'I don't think so. This is supposed to be classified, remember?'

'But she's just a hot woman who's concerned about her friend and just wants to learn stuff.'

While they were whispering, Natsu's exceptional hearing made him hear every word they said, which included "hot chick", "sexy body" and some other stuff. And that sure made him mad.

Lucy tilted her head at Natsu's anger, what was he mad about? When she was going to ask, the two guards turned to face them. Apparently, they decided to tell her everything, but with a condition.

"If you tried to break it, it will release an enormous amount of electricity enough to kill the prisoner and the person who attempted to break it." Guard no. 1 said.

"But if you break it without giving it time to process what's happening, nothing will happen. At least that's the theory."

Lucy nodded. She stepped in front to thanks the guards, and she planned to whisper to Natsu and Gray to punch those guys right now. But unfortunately, one of the guards blocked Lucy's way.

"Since we told you a classified secret, won't you repay us back?" The guard's helmet made it hard to see his expression, but Lucy was sure he was smirking.

The other placed his hand on her shoulder. "Yeah, just the three of us."

_What are you suggesting? A threesome?_ Lucy thought and she made a disgusted face, but didn't let them see it. She was about to reject the offer given to her, but a fist covered in fire was faster. It hit guard no. 1 square on the chest. Despite the thick armor, Natsu managed to make a dent on it. The guard was knocked out. On the other hand, Gray also punched guard no. 2 on the face, the helmet was deformed and he fell with a huge "thump" on the floor.

"Hmm….that definitely hurts." Lucy said, glaring at the two unconscious men. They deserved it.

"What now?" Gray asked, swinging his arm.

"Man, that felt good." Natsu said; a victorious grin on his face. _Finally, I can punch someone!_

"We now break into the cell and bring Erza with us." Lucy said. "But we can't bring her out to the town; we can't risk being seen, so we need the quickest and quietest route that will lead us to the forest."

"I agree." Gray nodded. "I remember this town is surrounded by a tall brick wall. If we make a hole there," he pointed at the wall in Erza's cell, "it would directly lead us to the outside to the forest."

Lucy nodded. "Natsu, break the bars, but do it as quietly as…" but before she can even finish, Natsu threw a fist at the bars, making a loud "BANG" that probably half the town will hear.

Gray face palmed himself and Lucy glared at Natsu. "Seriously, can't you wait until I finish speaking?"

Natsu ignored her and went inside the cell. Sighing, Gray and Lucy also went in. Natsu threw another fist at the wall beside the sleeping Erza, making a huge hole.

"You don't have to make it _that_ big!" Lucy yelled.

"Oops, sorry 'bout that."

Heavy, yet faint footsteps came from the door where the two guards came from. Natsu heard what was happening inside and faced them. "Looks like we've got company, and lot's of them."

They hurried and carried Erza outside, and they all hid behind thick bushes.

A few moments later, they heard the door burst open and a low, raspy voice said something, too faint for the human ear to hear, but Natsu heard every word perfectly.

"What the hell…?"

"Looks like we got a break out." Said one of the guards.

"They must've escaped to the forest! We need to capture them."

"I'd rather not."

"But general…"

"We don't need to waste time on that kind of prisoner. Besides, it's the mayor's fault, that's why everything happened."

"But she almost killed him! Not to mention she used magic!"

"For the mayor, he deserved it. As for the magic, you saw how enormous her magic power is. I don't think we stand a chance against her and her friends."

The other guards murmured in agreement. "But...we'll be killed if..."

"Yeah, I know." The general said in annoyance. "We'll need to seek some help from powerful mages, right now let's go back. You two! Carry them to the infirmary! You! Find a way to fix that wall. I'll go find some mages."

"Yes, sir!" and after that, they retreated back to the building.

Lucy peaked out to see if the cost is clear, and she jumped out of the bush she was hiding from. "Looks like they aren't gonna chase us."

"Yeah, everybody thinks it's the mayor's fault that he got injured and they all think he deserves it. But I wonder why they don't use magic." Natsu said.

"Let's worry about that later, what do we do now?" Gray said, Erza on his back.

Lucy nodded in agreement. "Now, let's find a place to camp and help Erza. And we should get as far away from this place as possible, in case they change their minds."

Gray and Natsu agreed and all of them walked further into the forest.

~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~

"So, how do we take it off?" Lucy asked, eyeing the hand cuffs. They walked for about an hour and decided to rest somewhere beside a small stream. Gray laid Erza on the gathered bushes and they started brainstorming since then.

Gray shook his head, he couldn't think of anything that can take the hand cuffs off immediately without hurting Erza or themselves. And Natsu, on the other hand, just sat there, since thinking isn't his kind of thing.

"Why don't we smash it with a rock?" Gray suggested.

"Can you smash that thing immediately while not hurting Erza?" Lucy pointed out.

"Well, we can place something between the hand cuffs and her wrist…"

"Yeah, not scratching her skin, yet risking breaking her wrist?"

Gray sighed. Lucy always seems to have a point. "What else can we do?"

Silence fell between them. They couldn't think of anyway to break it without hurting Erza.

"Well, I think it's better to have her hurt than not taking that damn thing off." Natsu said, breaking the silence.

Gray and Lucy turned around to face Natsu. "If she got hurt, we could always bring her to a town and heal her, right?"

"You're right, it's best to not have her injured, but I guess we'll just have to do some sacrifice." Lucy sighed. "So, who's gonna do the honors?"

Silence again.

Both Gray and Lucy turned to look at Natsu, who's tilting his head and staring at the sky. He noticed the silence and looked at them, noticing that they were staring back at him and fear crept up his chest.

"O-oi, don't tell me you want _me_ to do it." Sweat drops formed on his forehead and he gulped when they nodded. "Why me?"

"Because you were the one who suggested it." Lucy said. She stood up and picked up the biggest rock she can find. "Here. Thought it would be easier if it was bigger." She handed it to Natsu, who held it gingerly in his hands.

Gray didn't do anything but smirk. _He's so dead._ He thought to himself.

Natsu bowed down his head, as if thinking about something. Lucy just went back and sat down across Gray. Actually, inside Natsu's head, he was fighting if he should do it or let the other two do it.

_Let them do it! You were the one who broke the cell and got Erza!_ Chibi Natsu no. 1 said.

_But Lucy is right; you _were_ the one who thought about this…_ chibi Natsu no. 2 sighed.

Natsu frowned, both of them had a point, and he was struggling on whom to listen to.

"Natsu?" Lucy called. He had been sitting there for five minutes already, what the hell is he thinking about?

Natsu raised his head, his face looked determined, mixed with a little fear; both of them knew what he's going to do, Natsu wasn't really a master in hiding his emotions.

Natsu placed Erza's bound wrist on a bigger and flatter piece of stone and he weighted the rock in his hand. How can he break the hand cuffs instantly while giving Erza the minimum amount of harm? He sighed, he isn't good in thinking, so he decided to just smash it, and then deal with the possibly infuriated Erza later, since they didn't listen to her order a while ago.

Natsu raised the rock and Lucy and Gray held their breath, waiting for him to strike. He held it on top of his head for a few seconds, and then smashed the piece of stone on the hand cuffs. The hand cuffs broke and a spark of electricity escaped and touched Natsu's arm, but Natsu just felt a small tingle on his right arm. Right now, he isn't in the mood to notice it. He just stood there, frozen, eyes on Erza and waiting for her to wake up beat the hell out of him.

The hand cuffs broke, and Natsu didn't break Erza's wrist, but it did make a small wound on it, letting small droplets of blood appear on her skin. Erza stirred and she let out a small moan. Natsu didn't know if it was a moan of pain from her wrists or just a plain moan, his brain didn't process anything, too afraid of the woman in front of him.

Erza slowly opened her eyes, adjusting from the light. The cell she was being held in didn't have any windows, all it had was a small light bulb, but it can't be compared to the midday sun.

"Erza, are you alright?" Lucy asked carefully.

Erza nodded. "Aside from the pain on my wrists, I'm fine. More importantly, you didn't listen to my command. I told you to leave me alone there, and the three of you ignored it. Be glad that you're lucky enough they let us escape."

The three of them swallowed hard and nodded. "So, how are your wrists?"

Erza wiped the blood and turned her wrists in everyway possible, and then she nodded. "It's fine. And thank you Natsu, for breaking that goddamn thing."

Natsu was surprised, as this was the first time Erza swore at something. "Uh…no problem, I guess?"

They let Erza rest for a short while. The hand cuffs sucked away most of her energy and she can't seem to walk for a long while. They decided to set camp on where they were and continue the search for their lost friends tomorrow at day break. Evening came and all of them sat around the fire Natsu made, Gray and Natsu was glaring at each other every time one of them did something to offend the other, but stopped after they saw Erza's glare. After a few hours of rest, she was getting back to her old self, and that was a relief to Lucy, as she couldn't stand anymore of their fights.

"The town Magdalena is here," Lucy pointed, "And, as according to the map, we currently somewhere here." She used her finger to make an imaginary circle on the map. They are somewhere at the north east of the town, beside the stream, and the next town was a hundred miles away from where they are now. "How are we going to get there? We can't possibly walk there; it would take days, maybe months to get there."

"It's true, unless we have some transport of some sort, we can't get to the next town. And this is the nearest town from where we are." Erza said, her eyebrows slightly creased.

"I'm fine with walking."

"Natsu, that's just because you can't stand vehicles. But _we_ can, and it's _not_ ok for us to walk." Erza said, frowning. Natsu glanced at Gray and Lucy, but they just shrugged.

"Erza's right."

"Majority wins."

And Natsu sighed. "Erza, when you got to the town, did you notice that they don't use magic?"

Erza nodded. "I did. A day before I was arrested, I did some research, secretly."

"Secretly?"

"Yes, because I also noticed that every time I ask something about magic, the townspeople seem to be nervous and always change the subject, as if hiding something. So I did a bit research on my own." Erza closed her eyes, as if trying to recall something. "Do you believe in Lucifer?"

Lucy was a bit surprised. "Lucifer? As in _The Fallen Angel_ Lucifer?"

Erza nodded, and waited for their answer.

"Well, I've read about him in books, but…"

"But what does this have to do with him?" Gray asked.

"He's real, as what was according to the reference I read. Right now, he's the king."

"King? Of this country?"

"No." Erza said. She paused for a while, hesitating if she should tell them this. "King of this world."

All three of them were stunned. "He banned the use of magic and only he and his minions can use it. Anyone who uses magic without the proper permission and anyone who disobeys his rules will be subjected to death, and that death is _not_ a peaceful one."

"No wonder they weren't using magic, and nobody wanted to talk about it." Lucy said in a low voice, but loud enough for all of them to hear.

"Why don't we all get some rest now? I'm sure we'll need a lot of energy tomorrow." Gray suggested. Tiredness was filling every inch of his body, and now, he just wants to get some sleep. All of them nodded in agreement.

"I'll take the first watch, then we'll exchange. I've got enough rest, anyway." Erza said, and all of them agreed. The three of them immediately shut their eyes closed as soon as they hit the improvised pillow that was made out of leaves.

Erza sat quietly, leaning on a trunk of a tree. She noticed a black raven on one of the tree branches. It just stared at her with it's beady eyes and flew away. Erza thought it was just an ordinary bird, but why does she a have a feeling that something _really_ bad will happen?


	6. Chapter 6 Fevers and Dragons

Hey, so it's chapter 6 already, huh? Again, sorry for the late update, a few weeks ago, I had to deal with homework, now I have to deal with homework _and_ quizzes. Currently, I have a fever which kept me from hell (school) for three days straight. Fortunately, I'm still healthy enough to finish this chapter.

I'll start replying to the reviews here :)

**The Midnight Shadow Star: Who knows? :) I have a lot of ideas in my mind right now on how should I introduce the creepy crow and the old guy and other stuff. (I mean characters.)**

**ShiningStellar: Hehe, to tell the truth, I'm pretty surprised with myself to come up with this Lucifer idea too.**

**animeflower107: Hahaha, sorry, I'm kinda used to reading (and writing) cliffhangers, but I'll try to change. Gruvia? Hmm...You'll have to read the next chapters to find out :)**

**Footster26: Well, he's always the bad guy isn't he? About the thing he wants, I'll state it out when they finally meet.**

**Senbei x Cup Ramen: Thanks :) I like it, too. It's one of the best ideas that I thought of so far.**

**Alsarnia: Haha, actually, when I read your last review, I was surprised, because it was also guard no. 1 and 2. Coincidence much? :) As to Happy, he'll appear next chapter. Here's a small hint, he'll be with two other guild mates :))**

On with the story!

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><p>Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, you should know that by now.<p>

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><p>Chapter 6<p>

Lucy opened her eyes to small slits, staring at the sky above her. _It's morning already?_ She asked herself. She sighed inwardly, without making any noise, and then she noticed something was missing. _What could it be?_ She remained in her lying position as she started to remember. After a few moments, she realized that it was _noise_. The usual 'Natsu and Gray fighting' noise was gone, replaced by an unnatural silent. She sat up and saw Natsu and Gray sitting side by side, faces grim, which was an extremely rare sight, in front of a fire; on the other side sat Erza, who had a neutral expression on her face, but Lucy was sure that she's mad. Erza heard the rustling of leaves and turned around to see Lucy sitting up.

"Good morning, Lucy. How was your sleep?" Erza asked.

"Good morning. It was great."

"Good, care to join us for breakfast?" Erza asked again and Lucy nodded. She sat beside Erza, now facing the two boys. Lucy noticed a few fish surrounding the fire, and it smelled good. "Who caught the fish?"

Erza tilted her chin to the two boys in front of them, who was still not speaking. Lucy nodded and she took one fish and started munching on it. She felt great as her stomach was finally filled with something. It was grumbling since yesterday afternoon.

After eating, she licked her fingers and asked Erza. "So, why is it so quiet?"

Erza shook her head and tilted her chin again to the boys, both of them flinched a bit as Erza did it, and Lucy could already guess what happened. "Oh, ok. What now?"

"We walk to the town."

"But isn't that far?"

"We've got no choice. And if we set off now, we'll arrive earlier. We estimated that we would arrive there in a few weeks, considering the obstacles that we are going to face; we need to pass by some mountainsand rivers. Now that you're finished, pack up. We're leaving right now."

Lucy obeyed, as angering Erza was the last thing she wanted to do if she wants to live.

~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~

A few hours after walking non-stop, the blister that was on Lucy's foot hurt again and they had to take a rest every few hours, delaying their schedule. Erza didn't seem too pleased by that, but there was nothing they could do unless they find someone that can heal it quickly, and of all the people they know, only Wendy can do that.

Gray and Erza decided to walked ahead of them and check the road ahead. Natsu was left behind to aid Lucy while they slowly walked in the woods.

"What did you guys do to make Erza mad again?"

"We were catching fish and that lousy Gray cursed at me because the fish in my hand slipped and slapped him in the face. That wasn't even my fault!" Natsu said aloud. Lucy just kept silent as she listened to his ramblings. "…and Erza came to check on us. I threw a rock at Gray, but he dodged it and the rock hit Erza."

Lucy widened her eyes. No wonder she got that mad. "I didn't even mean it! And if it wasn't for Gray, none of this would've happened!"

Lucy giggled. When is he ever going to learn? "Listen, Natsu. You can't always be aggressive towards Gray. And Gray too, even though he's not here. That's the main reason why you always…ahh!" Lucy said, and she didn't pay attention in front of her. She tripped on a pebble, and when her face was about to make contact with the cold, hard ground, Natsu grabbed her arm and pulled her towards his chest.

"Man, Luce. You should pay attention to what's in front of you!"

Lucy couldn't say anything as she was shocked that Natsu pulled her towards him. _And my face is touching his chest!_ Her face burned a deep red. Natsu was sitting on the ground with Lucy kneeling between his legs and her face to his chest. Suddenly, Natsu twitched and just sat there; his arms around her waist became rigid, realizing what they were doing and hesitating if he should let go.

Lucy heard his heartbeat go faster and faster as she just stayed there, not knowing what to do. _Oh my god, his abs are so hard!_ Lucy thought as her fingertips brushed his abdominal muscles and her face grew to a deeper shade of scarlet.

They heard a whistle and broke apart as soon as Gray and Erza came back, both shocked by what they saw. Was Natsu hugging Lucy a while ago?

"I think we interrupted them. Maybe we should give them some alone time…" Gray tried to sound as innocent as possible, but the smirk on his face just grew wider as he said each word. Oh, how much Lucy wants to punch his face right now so he would shut up.

"Shut up!" Lucy yelled at him, the blush still visible on her face. "I tripped and almost hit the ground when Natsu grabbed me! Nothing has been going on between us, we're just nakama! Right, Natsu?" She said exactly what was in her mind, yet she felt a slight tugging at her chest when she said the word "nakama". She turned around to Natsu and saw that he was shocked by her sudden outburst, and she saw disappointment in his eyes, but thought that she might only be hallucinating when it disappeared quickly behind the black orbs.

"Y-yeah! Good thing I caught her, or else she might bleed to death if she hit the ground and get wounded."

Gray and Erza stared at them suspiciously, but changed the subject. "We inspected the area ahead and there were no obstacles. It's safe for all of us to pass through, though there's a small stream." Erza said, and they were on the road again. Nothing much happened, except for Natsu and Gray's constant glaring, and a few streams and rivers they had to pass through, the sun was setting as they reached a small lake.

"Why don't we stay here for the night? It's getting dark, anyway. And it would be dangerous if we traveled at night." Lucy suggested. Her legs were getting tired and it was painful to move on with the damn blister on her foot. Erza nodded, much to Lucy's relief, "you can sit there, Lucy, and maybe guard the place for us, and we'll go and find firewood and food."

Erza eyed the two boys and they immediately ran off.

"I'll get the firewood!"

"Me too!"

Erza went off too to find food and left Lucy beside the lake. Lucy clutched her keys tightly as she was afraid that maybe a monster might suddenly leap out from the woods and eat her whole. If a monster really came out I'll have to summon Taurus, or maybe Loki, and Aquarius if the monster came from the water.

A few minutes later, which to Lucy felt like a few millenniums, Natsu and Gray came back, competing with each other on who will be the first one to bring back the most firewood. They set down the firewood in front of Lucy in a rush and both said at the same time, "I'm first!"

"No, I'm first, you moron."

"Shut up, ice-head, stop denying that you lost!"

"I'm not, because I don't have to deny it since it's obvious that _I_ was first. You're the one who's denying it."

"Yeah, right. Stop lying, you loser."

"What the -, asshole!"

"Ice cube!"

"Fire breath!"

"What is going on here!" Erza yelled, anger in her eyes, and a helpless deer hanging on her shoulder, came out of the tall shrubs at Lucy's right. "I was just gone for a few minutes and now you guys are fighting again!"

Natsu and Gray gulped and stared at the animal that was smashed on the ground. The deer's beady eyes were open and lost its light, its tongue slightly protruding out of its mouth. There were no wounds on it, so how did Erza manage to kill it? Possibly, it died of shock, as Erza was scarier than any predator it has ever seen, and got too scared, it died of a heart attack. At least that's what Lucy thought. She turned her eyes to Natsu and Gray, who looked exactly like the deer facing its worst nightmare. She sighed, _it's just like a never ending cycle_, she thought as closed her eyes and covered her ears right before the screaming started.

~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~

Lucy averted her attention on the piece of meat she was munching on to the two boys who were bandaging themselves. Good thing Virgo brought her first aid kit with her. (_"What's the matter, princess? Are you hurt?"_ Virgo asked Lucy, she heard the screams all the way from the spirit realm and thought that her master was hurt. _"No, but those two idiots are."_ _"Should I punish them, princess?" "As much as I want you to, no, maybe next time, just give them some bandages." _Virgo did as what her master commanded and quickly returned.)

"How's the deer?" Erza asked. She was still grilling two pieces of doe meat for Natsu and Gray.

"Oh. It tastes great! By the way, Erza, how did you catch it?"

"Really easily. I just jumped out of the bushes and the deer just fainted. Though I don't know why."

Lucy laughed bitterly at herself. _Guess I was right._ She thought to herself.

Erza called the two guys to eat and the two girls went to sleep, Natsu and Gray were told by Erza to stay watch as the punishment, and the two quickly accepted. They were grateful that they didn't have anymore punishments.

~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~

The next morning, they set off again to the town. The trip was uneventful, at least until now.

"Are you alright, Lucy?" Erza asked worryingly. Her face was pale and sweat was forming on her forehead. Erza touched her own forehead and Lucy's. "Looks like you've got a fever. You probably aren't used to this kind of journey."

"N-no, I'm fine, let's hurry and get to the town." She tried to stand up, but her vision was blurry and her feet were wobbling like a toddler's. Natsu quickly caught her.

"Whoa, you're burning!" Natsu exclaimed, and to everyone, that was unusual for him to say that, since his body temperature is higher than anyone else's and it's hard for him to detect if a persons body temp. is normal or not.

"Since Natsu said that, it must be really serious." Gray said.

Erza nodded. "Natsu, carry her. We will keep on walking until we find a suitable place for all of us to rest."

Natsu didn't say anything, but silently agreed. He picked Lucy, just like the time before they found Erza. But this time, Lucy was too tired to argue.

Again, the trip was uneventful, except for Lucy's occasional coughing and wheezing. After a few hours of walking, they reached a huge clearing and there was a small creak beside. They decided to make this place their camp and Natsu gently placed her on the soft grass.

Erza demanded him to find firewood, but Lucy clutched on his vest tightly and wouldn't let go, despite her unconscious state. Erza just sighed and told Gray to get twice as much firewood since Natsu isn't able to. Before he went to find firewood, he knelt down beside Natsu and whispered in his ear. _"Make sure guys don't do anything suspicious while we're gone, and by suspicious, you know what I mean…"_ and he ran off before Natsu could punch him.

"Damn that Gray…" he hissed. He eyed Lucy, who was sweating like a glass of cold water under the sun. Her breathing was short and shallow, and her face was flushed from the heat. Natsu touched her forehead again and the temperature seemed to rise, instead of dropping. "Man, Luce. You sure are good at making people worry."

A few moments had passed and Erza and Gray have not yet returned. Lucy's fever got worse and her panting became louder. Natsu couldn't do anything but just watch her suffer.

A few more moments and Gray finally appeared with a bunch of branches in his arms.

"What took you so long?"

"Shut up, couldn't find any fallen branches around so I had to go further." He glared at him annoyingly. "By the way, how's Lucy?"

"Her fever got worse. Can you help her?" Natsu didn't take his eyes of the blond.

"I'll try."

Gray put down the branches and kneeled beside Natsu. He placed his palm on her forehead and his ice cold hand literally hissed at contact. He quickly jerked his hand away. "Shit, it's so hot."

"Just try it." Natsu said with a worried tone in his voice.

Gray nodded and gave it another try. When he placed his palm on her forehead, it hissed again, but this time he didn't take his hand away. Slowly, her wheezes decreased and her face returned to its normal color. Gray quickly took away his hand and blew on it, trying to lower the temperature.

"That shall do it. But only for a while." He said while shaking his hand. His palm was red from the heat and it stings. Natsu nodded and thanked him, an action that surprised Gray. _Is this the Natsu I know?_ He just stared at him, dumbfounded, and Natsu just glared back, as if saying _if you tell that to anyone, I'll skin you alive._ Gray rolled his eyes and went to fix the firewood. After the fire was burning, Erza came back, this time with a bear being dragged behind her with a thick vine.

"Whoa, is that a bear?" Gray asked with wide eyes, how are they supposed to finish that?

Erza nodded. "I couldn't find any other animals. How's Lucy?"

"Better. Gray lowered her fever, but not for long." Natsu tilted his chin to the ice mage, who just shrugged.

"Good. I'm sure Lucy will have to thank you later when she wakes up. Now, let's get this thing cooked."

The bear was proven to be too much for them to finish, so they cut off a small piece for Lucy in case she wakes up hungry, and threw the other part to the woods for the other animals to finish.

After they have eaten, Natsu decided to take watch. Partly because he didn't do anything a while ago, and partly because he wants to take care of Lucy, just in case her fever comes back. The other two agreed, though Erza only thought of his first reason, and Gray thought of the latter.

A few minutes after Erza fell asleep; Gray sat up and looked at Natsu straight in the eye. _"Remember,"_ he said in a low voice, _"don't do anything suspicious while we're sleeping, and if you do, keep the volume down…"_

Natsu suddenly felt the urge to throw a nearby rock at his face, but Gray shushed him and pointed at Erza. Smiling, he lied back down, leaving a blushing Natsu. He made sure Gray was asleep before he let out a big sigh.

"Fuck, thanks to him, now I'm having these weird (and pervy, though he's NEVER going to say that out loud) thoughts…"

Gray, who he thought was already fast asleep, smirked.

~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~

The next morning, Lucy woke up with a throbbing head ache. She slowly sat up and saw the other were surrounding the fire (which was again surrounded by pieces of meat on a stick), and seemed to be discussing something.

"M-morning, guys…" She said in a weak voice, followed by a few coughs. All of them turned around.

"Morning, Luce. How you feeling?" Natsu asked. Her face was still pale and her breathing shallow. In short, she has not yet recovered.

"I-I feel better, I g-guess. But I feel c-cold." She shivered and Natsu sat beside her. He wrapped his arms around her body and pulled her closer to him.

"How does that feel?"

Lucy was caught off guard by this sudden behavior and couldn't speak.

"Luce?"

"Uh…better, thanks." She wanted to push him away but her body didn't have the strength, so she just put her hands between them, creating a small gap. Natsu sensed her hands on his chest, trying to push him away, so he pulled harder.

"C'mon, Luce, I thought you said you were cold."

"Y-yeah, but you're just too…" Her sentenced could not be finished as a strange voice appeared in her head.

_Are you Lucy Heartphilia?_ The voice belonged to a woman, Lucy thought, she was surprised at the sudden question and the voice asked again. _Are you Lucy Heartphilia?_

"Y-yeah."

"Then don't push me away." Natsu said pulling her closer. He thought Lucy was responding to him.

"_They didn't hear it…"_

_Of course they won't, because I'm only talking to you. And you don't have to say it out loud so I can hear it; I can hear you perfectly even if you just think about it._

_O-ok, then. Who are you? _Lucy asked.

_You will know me later once after you have done me a favor._

"Lucy? What's wrong? You seem to be spacing out." Erza asked worryingly.

Lucy shook her head and motioned for them to be quiet.

_What kind of favor would you like me to help you in?_

_Tell your friends to move to the side, because I'm afraid that I might need a lot of space to land._

_Wait, what?_ Lucy widened her eyes and her team mates stared at her with curiosity in their eyes.

_Just do it._

"Uh, ok. Um, guys, you might want to move to the side." Lucy said to the three, they all stared back at her. "Just do it." She imitated the tone of the voice and all of shrugged; Natsu picked her up and leaned on a tree bark at the edge of the clearing, with Lucy on his lap, blushing furiously and telling him to put her down, Gray and Erza followed.

Suddenly, a dark and huge shadow loomed over them and a creature with wings landed on the spot where they were a few seconds ago. It was a dragon, and a big one at that. It had blue scales that seemed to shine and glitter under the sun, and on its back were spikes; its mouth was long and its half opened mouth was filled with sharp teeth; the wings were wide and it seemed to occupy almost the whole clearing.

"What the, ice-make, la-"

"Ex-equip-"

But before they attacked, Lucy told them to stop. "It means us no harm, I think…"

"Lucy, what is the meaning of this? Give me an explanation right now!" Erza had a stern look on her face, and Lucy was sure that it meant no good if she lied.

"I-I don't know, there was this voice in my-"

_I know that you are searching for your guild mates, and I can take you to the three of them._

"What?" Lucy said out loud. Erza was surprised by her outburst and the dragon made a growl which sounded like a chuckle.

"AWESOME! It's a dragon!" Natsu exclaimed excitedly. It's a real dragon! Maybe he, or she, might know something about Igneel! "Hey! Do you know anything about Igneel? He's my dad."

_Tell them that I'm a female and I know about you guild mates and about Igneel._

_Seriously?_ The dragon nodded.

"Ok, this dragon here, um…" _My name's Sapphire._ "Sapphire is a female dragon and she knows about our guild mates, and she also said that she knows about Igneel."

Natsu put Lucy down and punched the air. "Yes! Take me to him."

_Later, young boy._

Sapphire's voice rang in his head and a confused look appeared on his face. "Hey, what was that?"

Sapphire turned to Lucy. _Tell them to hop on my back; I'll take you to where Wendy Marvel is. You can ask questions later once we're there._

Lucy told them what she said and they all jumped on her back, Erza with a bit hesitation and suspicion, but nevertheless followed.

And soon enough, they were in the skies.

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><p>So? What do you think? Please review. I'd really appreciate those who reviewed and gave me precious and priceless advice. But I'd also like to thank those who likes my story! Thanks everyone!<p> 


	7. Chapter 7 More Fevers

So here's chapter 7! It's a miracle, actually, for me to finish this today. I thought I might be uploading this sometime next week, but my awesomeness made me finish it today B) Lol, jks. Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter. It's quite long :|

By the way, thanks for all the comments and reviews! I noticed that my creative mind depends a lot on reviews, even if it's just a few. Call it a driving force, it makes me want to write more :) So PLEASE review. Or else my writer-self might just shrivel up and die and probably won't be able to continue this story and it will just rot. So if you want to read the other awesome (self-complementing, LOL) chapters and even the ending of this story, REVIEW! And I already have the ending in mind, all I need is to finish the other chaps. And also HUGE thanks to all that added this story in favorites! (tears)

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail!

* * *

><p>Chapter 7 More Fevers<p>

Lucy decided that dragon riding would never be on her favorite activities list, and by seeing the face of her companions, she presumed that they made the same decision as hers, especially Natsu. Riding on a dragon's back was quite dangerous, as every time it flaps its wings, they would all clutch the spikes on Sapphire's back for dear life.

The wind was strong and it felt like cold sheets of ice was slapping her face and making her hair flutter in the air, and the howling of the wind was so loud they couldn't hear any word, despite sitting so close to each other, and all of them made a mental agreement to ask questions later. The scene below them was beautiful, never ending forests filled the land and stretched until the horizon like a sheet of paper with different shades of green and some blue spots and lines as the rivers and lakes; tall mountains pierced through the clouds like upside-down ice cream cones piercing through cotton candy, and the setting sun colored the sky a magnificent orange and lush pink. In short, it was breathtaking.

Too bad someone doesn't seem to have the strength to admire this view.

"Ugh….are we there yet?" Natsu asked weakly. His arms were around Lucy, who was sitting at the very front, and his head was leaning on her back. Being the one closest to him, Lucy barely understood what he just muttered out. She sighed, at least he wasn't puking.

_Hey, Sapphire?_

_Yes, miss Heartphilia?_

_Just call me Lucy, how long is this trip to the town?_ Lucy asked with a worried tone.

_Not long, a few minutes then we're going to land. Why? Are you sick?_

_I'm not, but someone is, and I'm afraid he might puke._ Lucy recalled each time she rode a kind of transportation together with Natsu; it resulted in either her paying the owner for the mess, or her paying for new clothes.

Sapphire chuckled. _Hmm…I wouldn't want that to happen on me, alright, we're almost there anyway, want to land now?_

_Yes, please._ The dragon heard the desperation in her voice and chuckled again.

Take off wasn't fun, but landing was the worst. They had to push themselves to not accidentally fall off and reach land before the dragon does, and the change of air pressure was giving Lucy a terrible head ache. _Note to self: DO NOT ride a dragon if not necessary._

After landing, Lucy pushed Natsu off and he landed on the soft grass with a small thud, and after a few seconds, he was alive again.

"Finally, land!" he shouted as he kissed the ground.

_What a funny human, I've never met someone like him before._

_He's probably the only living person that's like this._ Lucy rolled her eyes as she jumped down. _So how do we get town?_

Sapphire tilted her head and pointed to the west, _5 minutes of walking and you'll see the gate._

"Ok, guys. She said if we walk to the west for five minutes, we'll see the town."

"So Wendy's there?" Gray asked.

The blue dragon nodded and lied down with her wings tucked in and her head resting on her front feet.

_I'll wait for you here._

Lucy nodded and they all set off to the town. True enough, they saw the gate and wall that was surrounding the town after a few minutes and they immediately went in. the town was not that much different from Magdalena, but it was smaller, and it also didn't have any sort of magic.

"Guess we'll have to split up again." Gray sighed.

Natsu scanned the area while sniffing the air, and stopped. "Wendy!"

All of them turned to the direction Natsu ran off to and saw the small girl standing in front of a statue, together with the two Exceeds.

"Happy and Charle too!"

The two cats were standing beside Wendy, but they were on all four, instead of two.

"Good to see that you guys are alright!" Lucy said as she hugged the Sky Dragon Slayer.

"Lucy-san! I missed you guys!" Wendy said as she hugged back. "Eh? I think you have a fever, Lucy-san."

Lucy touched her forehead and the heat was still there, though she was feeling perfectly fine.

"I feel ok; maybe it'll go away later."

"By the way, why aren't Happy and Charle talking? Aren't you happy to see me, Happy?" Natsu pointed out.

The people around them all turned to their direction and started to whisper to each other.

"That man sure is weird, how can cats possibly talk?"

"Yeah, and look at his hair, it's pink!"

"Oh my, can they possibly be fugitives? But what about the small girl?"

"Is she one of them? No, maybe they're trying to bully her. The woman in the armor seems strict and disciplined, how can she be one of them?"

"The blond looks decent, a bit too revealing on the clothes, but not as worse as the black haired guy."

They took notice of the gossip surrounding them, but Natsu seemed to be ignoring it. "Hey, Happy? Charle? Are you even listening?"

Lucy placed her hand on his shoulder and pulled him back.

"Natsu, lets talk about this once we get outside. The people are starting to get suspicious."

Natsu wanted to push her hand away and continue to talk to them. He wanted answers right now, but he quickly obeyed when he saw the stern look on her face. Looks like it's really serious.

"Have you met Sapphire already?" Wendy tried her hardest to act all calm and natural, as if she didn't hear all the whisperings and asked them.

"Yeah, she was the one who took us here." He pointed at the gate. "She's outside in the forest, resting. Why don't we go back right now?"

"Ok!" Wendy said in a cheerful voice.

"Looks like things aren't how we thought it was. They seem to be friends."

"I guess so, but I still find the man with the pink hair weird. Hey, I think he's together with the blond, seeing how they stick together that much."

"What a waste, she's cute, not to mention her body."

"But don't you think they look cute together? And the guys _is_ pretty hot, look at those abs, you're just jealous."

_What the hell._ Lucy thought as she felt the heat creep up her face. _They're not assuming that we're delinquents anymore, but this is just as worse!_

She heard Sapphire chuckling in her head.

_Humans, such complicated beings. I can never understand you._

_Hey, what does that mean?_

Sapphire didn't reply, leaving a confused Lucy to think over what she just said.

A few minutes later, they met up with Sapphire and took off again. Sapphire said that this place was not safe, so they needed to move. The landed somewhere near a lake and decided to camp there, as the sun has already completely sank under the horizon.

"Natsu! I missed you so much!" Happy leaped on to him as soon as Natsu had recovered from motion-sickness, and they hugged like long lost friends. Well, they _were_ separated for quite some time, but hugging each other as if they would die if they let go is really exaggerating.

"Thank the spirits you're all alright." Lucy said. But just as she was going to hug Wendy and Charle, she suddenly felt nauseous and her legs gave out under her, making her fall backwards. Good thing Natsu sensed that something was wrong and quickly pushed Happy away so he can catch Lucy.

"Lucy! Not again!" Erza quickly knelt beside her as Natsu placed her down on the ground. She touched her forehead and immediately pulled away. "Damn, it's hotter than last time. I should've known that she has not yet fully recovered! If I have known…"

"Erza, it's not your fault." Gray said. "Wendy, can you help?"

The young mage nodded and knelt beside Lucy. She placed her left hand on Lucy's forehead and the other on her chest (no perverted thoughts here, please), right on top of the heart, and quickly worked on the healing spell Grandine has taught her countless times.

"_Grandine, please help me save Lucy-san…"_ She did not forget the small prayer that she always whispers when healing someone, as it always help her calm down and gives her the feeling that Grandine is helping her; but this time the prayers didn't seem to work. She still felt the heat radiating from the blond mage after chanting the spell, and her condition seemed to worsen.

"Wendy?" Charle stared at Wendy. Beads of sweat formed on her face as she chanted the spell again. "Are you sure you're alright?"

After finishing the spell for the second time, Wendy slowly pulled back her trembling hands and stood up. "I-I'm sorry, I can't heal her."

"What do you mean you can't heal her?" Natsu's head perked up. Lucy didn't look like healed, in fact, she looked worse.

Wendy shook her head as tears started to form at the corners of her eyes. "I'm really sorry. No matter what I do, her condition seems to worsen."

They all stared at her and back to Lucy, who was starting to cough and wheeze like she can't breathe. Sapphire, who was sitting at the side, watched everything that happened and stood up. She slowly walked to the group as they quickly parted to make way for her enormous body, except for Natsu, who was still kneeling beside Lucy.

_Human, is she that important to you?_

Natsu looked confused for a while, and then nodded his head with a firm expression on his face. Sapphire nodded and moved her head closer to Lucy, and slowly breathed out tiny white spots that looked similar to snow flakes. Natsu shivered as her breath touched both Lucy and him. _It's way colder than Gray's ice. _He thought as he felt Lucy's temperature drop to normal.

_It won't last for long, but it will be enough before we find someone who can heal her. Tell your friends to rest, they can ask questions tomorrow. We will set out tomorrow before noon._

Natsu did as he was told and they all settled down to rest after they all made sure Lucy was alright. The only ones who were awake were Natsu and Sapphire, who were talking to each other.

_Hey, uh, Sapphire. I've wanted to ask this before. What kind of dragon are you? Igneel's a fire dragon, Grandine's an air dragon, and Metalicana's an iron dragon._

_I'm a water dragon._

_But that was ice a while ago, right?_ Natsu tilted his head in a confused manner.

_Silly human, ice is just another form of water. The one I did was not really ice; it was something closer to snow flakes. And because of this, I don't really get well with Igneel._

_Huh?_

_I cannot understand his ways of doing things, and we always get into fights. But I still see him as a friend and comrade when needed. Much like you and that raven-haired man with no shirt on._

Natsu glanced at Gray who was sleeping the farthest from the fire and snickered.

_Friends? Don't get us wrong! We're rivals! When did you see us as friends?_

This time it was Sapphire who tilted her head. _Rivals in what?_

_To be the strongest of course! And who will be the first one to be the S-class mage and beat Erza!_

Sapphire shook her head._ This is why I cannot get along with you fire attributed people. I'm sure that "Gray" has different yet reasonable excuses to fight you._

_So you're saying I'm not reasonable?_ Natsu asked annoyingly. _By the way, what does "reasonable" mean?_

Sapphire was dumbfounded by his question and decided to not chat with him anymore, as she was sure her brain cells would definitely decrease if she chatted any longer with him. He was exactly like Igneel when he was younger, all rash and stupid, yet caring for his comrades. _That _she had to admit.

_I'm getting tired. I'll leave you and your girlfriend alone now._

She thought that would make him all flushed and red, but his reaction was the exact opposite.

_Girlfriend? Well, she _is _my friend, and she's also a girl, so I guess that makes her my girlfriend. Oh, and Erza, Mira, and the other girls in the guild too._

Sapphire stared at him with pure shock. Seriously, can this guy be anymore stupid and dense?

_That's not the girlfriend I'm talking about._

_Really? Then what?_

Sapphire shook her head and decided to end the conversation. _Ask your friends tomorrow._ And with that, she walked away, leaving a very confused Natsu.

~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~

The next morning, Lucy was still unconscious but she looked normal, which was a big relief to all of them.

"Sapphire, you said to find someone who can heal her, do you know where this person is?" Erza looked up at the dragon, which was way taller than her when standing.

Sapphire nodded. _We need to take Lucy to her right away, as I'm not sure how long my spell can stand. Her fever might suddenly come back while we're traveling to find your friends, and I'm sure if her fever comes back for the third time, it will be much worse._

This time it was Wendy whom she talked to, and she told her friends the same thing. While the others settled on Sapphire's back, Natsu let Happy carry him while Charle carried the unconscious Lucy, afraid that she might fall off Sapphire's back, and Natsu did not want Gray to help. He gave Gray the glare and it resulted in them almost fighting. Erza tried to talk to him but, as stubborn as he was, still didn't want Gray "using his dirty hands" to touch her.

"Hey, asshole, since when was my hands dirty? I wash them every fucking day, and you call them dirty?"

"Yeah, right, exhibitionist. And are you that stupid? I'm sure you know which kind of 'dirty' I'm talking about."

Erza on the other hand had to use her death glare to keep them quiet and asked Charle if she can carry Lucy instead. The white feline shrugged and didn't mind, much to Natsu's relief.

_Are they always like this?_

Wendy gave Sapphire an apologetic smile.

_Well, I'm used to it._

Sapphire sighed and slightly shook her head as she stared at them with pure amazement.

_You, Lucy, and that white cat are probably the sanest ones in the guild, followed by the red hair._

_That's what Lucy-san always mutters to herself._ Wendy said to her in surprise

_It's pretty obvious, you know._ Sapphire gave her a side ways glance and growled at the group who were still on the ground quarrelling.

The three humans quickly went to their places and they were again uncomfortably airborne. The only ones who were enjoying the ride were Wendy, of course, who was an air dragon slayer, Natsu, who was being carried by Happy, and Charle and Happy, who were using their own wings to fly.

Sapphire said that the trip would be long, as she was not very sure if the person they were finding would be where she was the last time she saw her, so they were asked to be prepared for the long flight. Natsu was fine with it since he thought Happy would be carrying him the whole time, but it looks like Happy's stamina could not last longer than half a day, so is Charle, so Natsu had to fight his motion-sickness while holding the unconscious Lucy, and it proved to be hard enough for him to not puke on her.

They were stuck on the dragon's back for the rest of the day and they (excluding Wendy) were beyond relieved to land somewhere at the base of a mountain as the sun was already setting.

"Man, my butt hurts from all that riding. I have only ridden something for 5 hours, and it was a train with soft cushions." Gray said out loud, earning a glare from Sapphire, who was busy helping Wendy with Lucy.

_Boy, if you find riding on me uncomfortable, you might as well walk there, which is still three days away if you fly, and one month if you walk._ Sapphire quietly said in his head, which made him shut his mouth and mentally curse himself for complaining.

_Seriously, you people aren't content with what you already have? I'm ashamed to find that you have the same attribute as me. Besides, do you think carrying a bunch of people is fun?_

"S-sorry…" Gray sweat dropped as he quickly ran to Erza who was calling him. Natsu quietly ate his dinner while glancing at Lucy's direction, worried that her fever might return. Gray saw all of this and chuckled quietly to himself. _Anyone who can't see that he likes Lucy is surely an idiot._ He thought to himself. Erza also saw Natsu's actions and leaned toward Gray, making sure that her voice is low enough so Natsu can't hear.

"_Gray, can you tell me what's up with them?"_ She stared intently at him while he stared back with shock.

_Never mind, I take back what I said._ He quietly sighed and told her what happened. She gasped in shock.

"_That fast?"_

Gray nodded as Erza swore at the ground.

"_Why do you look mad?"_

"_Of course I'd be mad! I just lost a bet with Mira!"_

Gray stared at her again, this time with confusion._ "You? Betting with Mira?"_

"_Yes. Everyone in the guild is betting each other on when Natsu would openly show affection to Lucy, and vice versa. That's the first bet, the second…I think I shouldn't tell you this."_ Erza looked away, obviously hiding something from him.

"_Hey, tell me. I have the right to know! It's not like I'm the one they're betting on, are they?"_

Erza still refused to say anything, but the sudden rigidness on her shoulders gave off that it _was_ him they were betting on, though he doesn't know who they're pairing him with.

They just sat there with an awkward silence until Natsu stood up and walked towards them with a hesitant look on his face. He sat cross-legged in front of the two and asked a question that made them seriously think if he's human or not.

"Hey, guys, what's a girlfriend?

Both of them gaped at him, which made him annoyed. "C'mon, tell me!"

"Natsu, don't tell us you're serious…" Erza slowly blurted out. Even though she has been friends with him for quite some time already, and she knew that he cannot be compared with normal humans in terms of logic and ways of thinking, she still didn't expect for him to ask this kind of question.

"Should I call you ignorant or stupid?" Gray snickered. He too did not expect him to not know what a girlfriend is, but he quickly recovered from the shock. "But the latter suits you better."

Natsu glared at Gray, and he glared back. But they both swallowed their anger and decided to deal with each other later when they remembered Erza was still around.

"How to say…a girlfriend is...in short, someone you like," Erza started, completely unaware of what Gray said to Natsu.

"But I like you, and Mira, and Cana, and the other girls in the guild too!"

"I'm not yet finished." Erza glared at him. "A girlfriend is a girl that you like, but this kind of like succeeds the other likes you feel with the other girls. In other girls, you might see them more of a friend, sister, or nakama, whichever you like; while you care more for that particular girl than the others, you constantly worry about her, feel depressed when she's sick or not around, and feel extremely happy when you're with her. That's a girlfriend." Erza smirked, knowing who Natsu's thinking of right now, and pleased with her own explanation.

Gray felt his lips curving upwards to a smile as he fully digested what Erza had said. _That was one good explanation._

_I agree._

The voice of Sapphire made Erza and Gray jump, but also made their smiles wider.

They waited for Natsu's reaction, which took longer than expected. He just sat there with his head bowed down and a fist under his chin, supporting his head. He looked exactly like "The Thinker" which they had seen in a museum they were supposed to guard as a mission a few weeks back, and Natsu made fun of the bronze statue, but look what he's doing now.

"Natsu?"

The dragon slayer still made no sign of reacting to Erza's explanation. But he did perk his head up when Wendy came near.

"Hey, guys. You seem to be discussing something, may I join?"

"Yeah, sure." Gray nodded and patted the spot beside Natsu. But when she sat down, Natsu stood up and walked towards the tree beside Lucy and resumed the pose he was doing.

"What happened to Natsu-san?" Wendy asked. She was shocked at his behavior. A second ago, he seemed so lively, yet right now, he looks like something's bothering him.

Erza told Wendy everything and she gasped, wide-eyed. _"Yay! Looks like I've won the bet with Levy-san!"_ She whispered, and Gray groaned.

"Not you too…"

"Guys, what do you think is wrong with Natsu? I've never seen him like this before." Erza cast a worrying glance at the Salamander.

"Me neither." Gray shrugged.

_Sapphire, can you go in Natsu-san's mind and see what he's thinking of?_

_I tried. But his mind just blocked me out. Though I did experience a bit of what he was feeling. It felt like he was confused, but he understood what Erza had said._

Wendy told them the same thing and it made them more worried.

"Then what the hell is he thinking?" Gray yelled out in frustration, loud enough so Natsu can hear, and silently wishing he will respond to that, but unfortunately, he didn't. He didn't even budge, which made Gray more frustrated.

"I never knew that his brain would be able to think for that long…" Wendy said, but with no offense.

The others also nodded in agreement. From what they knew and suspected, Natsu's brain wasn't programmed the same way normal people is, and over the years, Erza and Gray had never seen him think for this long. And it's about LOVE for heaven's sake. Of all the things he can think of, it was about love! Since when was Natsu a romantic? AND, for the first time, Natsu understood a statement _that _long. He has never had the patience to sit down and let other people lecture him on anything before.

_Anyway, we should rest now. Tomorrow's going to be a long day._ Sapphire said to all of them, including Natsu and the Exceeds, and they quickly went to sleep.

~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~

"So, where exactly is this place you're taking us?" Erza asked curiously as they were getting ready for lift off.

_Somewhere; it's in the map. It's called the Alora Mountains the last time I checked._

Erza stared at her with a confused expression.

_It's been a while seen I've been there._ Sapphire explained.

Erza nodded and took out a map from Lucy's pocket and opened it. There was a place called Alora Mountains on the map, but it was far, way farther than what she had expected.

"But this place is far, are you sure we can get there within three day?"

_Do not underestimate me, human. I'm the fastest flyer of all dragons, except from Grandine, of course, since she's the air dragon._

Erza nodded and she called the others who were still chatting. Gray and Natsu were fighting, as usual, but they look like chatting happily if you look at them from a distance and to Erza, they were chatting like best friends should, with all the (*cough* fake *cough*) smiles and all.

They quietly obeyed her as they heard her calling them and quickly jumped on Sapphire's back. Natsu and Lucy on the other hand were being carried by the Exceeds, just like yesterday, and Natsu made an excuse that it would help them train their stamina, which was accepted by Erza.

They continued their journey to find Lucy's cure and three days after, they arrived at the base of the Alora Mountains.

_We will continue from here, but this time, we're walking._

"Why can't you just fly us up there?" Gray asked.

_Because there would be no space for me to land and I'm sure you will need a guide, unless you're hundred-percent sure that you can find your way and not eaten by who knows what._

All of them agreed and they stared in amazement as Sapphire began to transform. Her form became smaller and smaller until she was the size of a normal human and they took a good look of her after the bright light that surrounded her body faded.

She looked exactly like a normal human. Her height was about the same as Erza's and shoulder length blue curls surrounded her pretty face; her eyes were a dark blue and her lips were full, in short, she was beautiful. _But not as pretty as Lucy._ Natsu thought to himself unconsciously.

"I never knew dragons can change into humans…" Wendy said in amazement.

"Oh, there are a lot more things which you still don't know, sweetheart." She flashed them a grin and they instantly saw the fangs. "Ok! So why don't we hurry up and climb the mountain? It looks like Lucy's fever has come back." She pointed out.

Natsu realized that Lucy's temperature had gotten a bit higher and he nodded. They walked up the slope with Sapphire at the front, followed by Gray, Erza, Wendy, the two cats, and lastly Natsu who was carrying Lucy in his arms.

The trip was long and quite dangerous. They almost had a fight with a pack of over-sized wolves until Sapphire gave them a glare and the pack scurried away, almost fell down a cliff which they didn't see, and was almost shot by some hunters who thought that there were animals behind the moving bushes. (Man, I realized that this paragraph is full of "almost"s.)

"*Huff* *huff* are we there yet…?" Gray asked Sapphire who was a good few meters in front of them.

Sapphire stopped and turned on her heels. "Oops, sorry. I forgot that you were humans."

"Why do I *pant* feel insulted?" Erza glared at her.

She quickly waved her hands and gave them an apologetic glance. "No, you got it wrong. You see, dragons have far more strength and stamina than humans do."

"But you're human now, right?" Charle asked as she floated a few inches above the ground.

Sapphire nodded, and then shook her head. "I may look human, but inside I'm still a pure-blooded dragon. Now, hurry up, we're almost there."

"Why does this person have to live on top of an extremely tall mountain?" Natsu asked. He was also getting tired but for Lucy's sake, he's willing to exert all his strength just to cure her unknown disease.

"Well, she doesn't like to be associated much with humans."

"That's a lot like Porlyusica." Gray muttered and the others agreed. Sapphire didn't comment but just kept on moving. They walked for about another ten minutes and they notice the changes in the environment.

"Hey, why aren't there anymore wild animals like the wolves we saw a while ago?"

"That's because we have already entered that person's barrier. Unless it was someone she knew or a group of people with at least a person that she knows no animal or human can come in." Sapphire said without turning. "This also means we're near."

At last, when Sapphire pushed pass a tall wall of grass; they saw a small clearing with a huge cave right in front of them.

Sapphire walked towards the cave and stopped right outside. "Hey! I'm here and I've got some people who need your help!"

They waited for a while, and when the others thought that there would be no answer, a female voice that sounded much deeper and mature than Sapphire came out from the cave.

"Well, what has taken you so long?"

They waited for Sapphire to tell them it's ok to go in, since they were suspicious who this person was. But Wendy gasped in shock, her eyes widening.

_This voice, can it really be her?_

She slowly walked to where Sapphire was standing and pulled gently on her shirt while her head was bowed down. Sapphire felt the trembling coming from her hands and she knew that it was out of excitement and fear. She just smiled at her and ushered her to go on, and Wendy took a hesitant first step. The moment she stepped in the cave, a cool breeze enveloped her. It smelled of the ocean wind at first, and then it smelled like a warm summer breeze, and lastly, it smelled of a scent Wendy has never forgotten.

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><p>So? What do you think? PLEASE review, or else the one that I just said on top might really happen. Nobody wants that, right?<p> 


	8. Chapter 8 A Message from Hell

Hey guys! I noticed that I haven't updated in a while, and I applogize for that :( I'm having my term exams and I can't fail them, or else my mom's gonna ground me (Asian parents, ugh). And I'm also working on my other story (which I would like you guys to read and also state you opinion), so I'm kind of stressed right here. But don't worry, the exams are almost over :) so I can update more starting next week (if I don't get a freakin' writer's block, that is).

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><p>Disclaimer: I don't own FT.<p>

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><p><em>Chapter 8<em> _A Message from Hell_

Wendy couldn't stop the tears from forming in her eyes as she saw a humungous figure step out of the shadow. The scales on the dragon's body shimmered as it stepped out into the sun, elegance and power radiating out from its entire body, with a hint mischief and motherly love in its eyes.

"G-Grandine…" Wendy stuttered as she saw light cover Grandine and turned into a human. Tears wear rolling down her cheeks as she took another step closer. "I-is that…really you?"

Grandine the Sky Dragon, now in her human form, smiled tenderly at her foster child. "Of course it's me! Don't tell me you have forgotten what your mother looks like. Even though this is the first time you've seen me in this form, I'm quite positive that you saw how I looked like before transforming."

Wendy didn't reply, as she was already running towards her with her arms opened wide. Grandine looked much younger than Sapphire in her human form, and looked mischievous, while Sapphire looked more mature. But their beauty sure was dazzling, even a person as dense as Natsu couldn't fight the feeling to stare at them as long as he can, but too bad he's already occupied with someone else.

The others who were still waiting outside watched as the mother and child hug each other as tight as they can, and they all felt teary eyed, just like when you're watching an extremely tear-jerking movie, but live.

They hugged for so long before Grandine noticed that there were still people outside waiting. She parted with an unwilling Wendy as she welcomed them. They went in the big cave and Grandine immediately sensed that something was wrong.

"That girl you're holding…" she stared at Lucy with such intensity that Natsu unconsciously bore his fangs at her. Grandine noticed, but ignored it. "Tell me everything."

They explained to her what happened during the past few days while occasionally earning some frowns from the sky dragon. _They have been reckless, if it wasn't for their good luck, they wouldn't be here right now_, she though as she quickly brain-stormed for possible cures. She sensed a weird and heavy aura radiating from Lucy's body, and for some weird reason, it seemed to slow her thoughts. _As if it didn't want me to find a cure for her…_Grandine said quietly in her mind. And she's sure that Sapphire has noticed it long ago, or else she wouldn't have helped that girl. _Unless, she knew something._

Grandine used air magic to levitate the unconscious Lucy and let her float beside her. "Wendy and Sapphire, come with me. The other's, stay here and make yourselves at home while we try and figure out the problem." And with that she disappeared deeper into the cave followed by Wendy and Sapphire. The others sat down on the cold ground as they tried to be patient. They all looked around, and immediately frowned. The cave didn't have any decorations to make it look like a home, not even a sofa or chair, but then again, Grandine was mostly in dragon form, so she wouldn't need any furniture at all.

Natsu, being Natsu, couldn't stand the waiting (even though he waited for less than a minute) and stood up. He walked in circles as an anxious expression appeared on his face. Gray looked up and said, "You look like a guy waiting out side of the operating room while your wife's inside giving birth to a baby."

Erza couldn't help but smirk at his comment, which looked pretty creepy to Natsu and Gray as it was a rare scene. It seems like she forgot about the bet with Mira and is starting to enjoy Gray's comment about them, while Natsu blushed slightly and growled at him.

"Shut up. I'm worried, can't you see?"

"We all are." Erza replied. "Why can't you just sit down and think positively?"

"Well, thinking positively won't change anything if she's still sick." Natsu said back and he resumed walking in circles. Erza was taken aback by what had said. Did he just talk back to her? This is the first time somebody has did that to her in her whole life after she became a member of Fairy Tail.

Happy flew to him and tried to calm him down while the others fell silent. Seriously, what are they doing inside?

~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~

Meanwhile, deeper inside the cave, the three kept walking while they were all silent, Wendy still felt the sting behind her eyes, threatening her tears to flow down again.

Sapphire walked behind her and Grandine at the front, leading them where to go while keeping Lucy from falling. Grandine's left hand was slightly raised, just beside the floating Lucy.

She ducked into a small room, and the other two followed. Inside, Wendy was amazed by the number of glass jars inside. The jars were all filled with different herbs and were put on shelves that seemed to surround the room. Grandine chuckled. "Don't be surprised. I have yet to collect all the herbs and medicines around the world, this is probably just a small portion."

She placed Lucy on the long table in the middle of the room and lit the candles. Once the light was brighter, some of the jars seemed to glitter and Wendy was even more amazed. Together, they examined Lucy and suddenly, Grandine frowned.

"Wendy, can you get me some of these?" she wrote on a piece of paper and gave her the list.

After Wendy has gone to search for the things Grandine wanted, Sapphire said in a voice so low that Wendy and the others outside, particularly Natsu.

"You did that because you want to talk to me privately, am I correct?"

Grandine nodded. "I'm positive that you too sense something odd coming from her." She paused, as if waiting for a reply, but none came. "I'm afraid that this sickness is not any ordinary sickness, but something more…how to say…" She hesitated, searching for the correct word to describe it. "…evil? I'm not sure, but I know you can sense that dark and heavy aura emanating from her."

Sapphire just stood there, not speaking, until she heard Wendy come back with all the things she was asked to get.

"We'll talk about this later."

Wendy gave Grandine the things and she started to make a brew. She then poured it in small Japanese tea cups and asked Wendy to give it to the people outside. She also asked Wendy if she can stay there with her guild mates. Wendy tilted her head as if confused, but obeyed, and she walked out of the room with the aromatic tea Grandine made.

Natsu heard footsteps as Wendy approached them and gave them the tea. Natsu asked what had happened inside but Wendy couldn't answer since she was busy finding some ingredients and she couldn't hear a word they were saying.

Natsu punched the wall with such force that he made a small hole on it. Wendy noticed the anxious expression on Natsu's face and she comforted him that Lucy will be alright.

"C'mon, Natsu-san, you've got to trust Grandine. She's the most powerful healer I've ever seen and I'm sure she'll have a solution to Lucy-san's sickness." Natsu didn't say a word as he sat down on the ground again.

"She'd better be." He growled. Wendy thought she was supposed to be offended since he didn't trust Grandine's skills, but she felt nothing but understanding what he was feeling. If anybody close to her were in the same situation, she'd feel the same way.

Grandine's tea seemed to have affected everybody as they all seemed so calm after all that has happened, especially Natsu, who was surprisingly silent and still the whole time. As Wendy was starting to feel drowsy, she felt the footsteps coming out from the small room and she stood up to meet with the two dragons.

"How is she?" Natsu asked. He noticed that the atmosphere has changed and he knew something was wrong.

Grandine signaled for him and Wendy to sit down as she cleared her throat.

"I cannot heal her." She said bluntly. This shocked all of them, particularly Natsu and Wendy. Natsu was furious at what she had said and Wendy just felt betrayed. _How can it be? Grandine, the person who is said to be able to cure any sickness, can't heal a simple fever?_

"But I thought you can heal any sickness!" Wendy said out loud.

Sapphire shook her head. "She can only heal ordinary ones."

"So you mean the illness that Lucy currently has isn't ordinary?" Erza spoke with her calmest voice. She too was angry for the dragons to have no power over a stupid illness, but it turns out that it's not simple at all.

Grandine nodded. "You dragon-slayers can sense an aura emanating from her if you concentrate hard enough. But we dragons have the ability to sense any magic that has been put upon a person's body almost immediately.

"Listen, this sickness that Lucy has right now is no ordinary fever, but a spell cast on her, and I cannot heal her."

"So you're saying we're just gonna leave and let her die?" Natsu glared at them with anger showing in his eyes.

"I did not say that we cannot save her!" Grandine snapped. "Have more respect on someone who is centuries older than you! If you want to save her, I need some special herbs to support me in the ritual, and I've just run out of them. So if you want to save your friend, you'll need to help gather these ingredients."

Grandine snapped a finger as a jar wrapped up tight floated to where they were. "This is the medicine you'll need to temporarily suppress her fevers. You will need to wait until she wakes up before you set off though. And I'll stay here to make the further preparations."

They all nodded as they patiently waited for Lucy to wake up. Grandine made more tea and prepared all the things they would need.

"Give me your map, I will show you where and how you will get there."

They gave her the map and she drew a small circle at the tip of a mountain. "It's called the Darnoth Mountain Ranges and you will have to climb Leona, its highest peak. There you will find three of the many ingredients essential for Lucy's cure."

She took out a piece of paper and wrote the names and characteristics of the herbs and ingredients she needs. She pointed at a small red flower and warned them to not touch the petals, for it is extremely poisonous and will burn their skin. "It's not called 'Floris Infernum' or 'Flowers of Hell' for nothing." She said to them.

She drew another circle around a bunch of trees. "The Wanderer's Forest. Be careful here, for you will easily get lost if you don't pay attention, and the beasts there are more ferocious and violent than anything you've ever seen." Her cold, hard stare seemed to bore a hole around everyone's face, especially Natsu, as if the statement was directed at him.

After giving some more precautions and warnings, she went inside her small room and returned with a small jar in her hand. "Thought you might need this. It's a kind of gel where you can put on wounds. I've enhanced it with my magic and it can heal any wound immediately, whether if its burns or slashes."

Erza took the jar and nodded gratefully at her as Lucy appeared before them, still looking sleepy.

"Hey, guys." She yawned.

They all greeted her and asked her if she was feeling alright. Natsu was the first one to reach her, despite being the one farthest from her when she appeared, and examined her from head to toe. After thoroughly scanning her for any signs of wounds or such, he let out a sigh of relief. Lucy was shocked at his sudden action, so was the others, and gave him a weird look as he walked away.

Natsu shrugged and told her everything, including her weird illness (which resulted in an elbow punch to the stomach by Erza), and their plans. Lucy tried to look undisturbed by all of it, and tried not to think of herself as a burden to the group, but still, the thought kept on mingling in her mind even after they took off on with Sapphire in her dragon form.

Natsu sensed her distress and tried to comfort her, even if he was the one who needed to be comforted, but he did his best to at least not look sick as he talked with Lucy. Their conversation was unheard by the others, since the wind was too strong and Natsu's words died out before it can reach their ears. Lucy had to smile at his thoughtfulness and showed him her brightest smile, telling him that she got the message, and Natsu smiled back, before leaning on her back and wrapped his arms around her waist, finally getting sick. Even if Lucy told Natsu she won't fret over it anymore, she still silently told herself to train once she's got the chance.

After a few hours of flying, they landed on a clearing in a forest. Sapphire told them that they should rest for tomorrow, as they are going to walk, because she cannot fly them to the mountains. Though when they asked why, Sapphire just shook her head and told them she has her own reasons. They shrugged and made camp. Lucy just leaned at a tree trunk as she watched her friends chatting and joking around. Gray talking with Erza and Wendy, occasionally they would chuckle; and Natsu was playing with Happy, and they look so relaxed. Charle on the other hand sat beside Lucy and didn't say a word.

"Why don't you hang out with them?" Lucy asked. The white cat shrugged and asked her the same question. Lucy explained that she was tired and wanted to rest, and Charle also said the same thing. Both of them didn't talk anymore. But Charle looked up at her every time she wasn't looking, and Lucy wasn't stupid enough to not notice it. Though she wanted to ask her what's wrong, the hesitation and troubled expression she saw in Charles face made her stop.

_She looks so…troubled by something. But what? _She asked herself as she glanced sideways at Charle's direction. Charle looked at Sapphire and she immediately turned away. Lucy realized that Charle and Sapphire were talking about something and surely Sapphire knows what Charle is worried about, but the look on Sapphire's face didn't look like she's willing to divulge the secret to her, so she decided let them tell her when they're ready, and she directed this thought to Sapphire, who definitely got the message as she glanced at their direction for a second before turning away again.

Lucy suddenly got drowsy as her eyelids grew heavier as each second passed by, and she eventually fell asleep. Charle noticed her breathing has changed and looked up at her with worried expression. She had a vision, and what she saw wasn't pleasant at all. She struggled to find the correct words to describe it. _Disturbing? No, that's not it. Sad? Close… Tragic…yes that would be it. Tragic._

She glanced at Sapphire and the dragon nodded her head in agreement, though with hints of sadness and pity in her eyes. She had also seen what Charle saw, and also had the same thoughts as her.

_Sapphire…is it possible to…change our own fate?_ Charle as ked Sapphire while staring at the group surrounding the fire and occasionally glancing at the sleeping Lucy, trying to look natural and calm.

_Hmm…I believe that we hold our future in our own hands, and by choosing the right choices, we can definitely alter the events that we foresee. But…_ Sapphire paused. _If this is what the goddess of fate chose, then I suppose it will be difficult and nearly impossible._

_You said difficult and _nearly_ impossible. That means we can still change it?_ Charle shot her a questioning glance and returned her gaze to her guild mates.

Sapphire nodded slightly. _All this years of living together with humans, I've seen some of them change their own fate with their own hands, some with the help of comrades. So it is possible. But only the few chose ones that are favored by the goddess are allowed to change their fate, I cannot be too sure about Lucy, though._

_How can we be?_ Charle sighed inwardly. _Let's put this aside for now, I'm sure the day that it will happen is still far away, we can think about it tomorrow._

Sapphire nodded and tucked in her wings and rested her head on her front feet. Charle flew on top of a tree branch and settled there. The others noticed them and they, too, started to settle to sleep. They selected their own place that feels comfortable to them; Gray the farthest from the fire; Wendy under the branch where Charle was; Erza close to the fire; Happy tried to snuggle with Charle but he was kicked away, so he rested on a tree branch beside Charle; and Natsu beside the already sleeping Lucy. He inhaled her scent before finally closing his eyes. For some weird reason, he had to smell her scent before he can peacefully go to sleep, and it soon became a habit-dash-addiction to him. Her scent always seemed to calm him down, and he likes how she smells, the sweet scent of vanilla with a tad bit of cherry blossoms. No one has the same scent as hers, she was unique, and he has a feeling that she belongs to him, and only to him. Forever. This feeling calmed him down, and after exhaling slowly, he began to fall asleep too.

~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~

_Darkness. That was everything that's surrounding her. Not even a beam of light. She started to feel scared, and she called out for her friends. Nothing replied, only pure silence. She panicked, and was about to scream when she saw light at the far end, and she ran towards it. The light grew bigger as she realized it was the exit from the darkness behind, and this thought made her run faster than ever._

_After reaching the exit, she was temporarily blinded by the light, after recovering; she took a good look around her surroundings, and together wishing her friends were there. But the scene in front of her made her gasp out loud. There on the ground before lay her teammate's lifeless bodies. Erza's armor was missing and a large hole was present on her chest, blood gushing out. Gray was lying downwards, but there was a large pool of blood surrounding his body. Charle and Happy were also on the ground, but their wings seemed to be torn off brutally and thrown to the ground. Wendy had no serious injuries as compared to first ones she saw, but her whole body was covered with cuts of different sizes, and she probably died from loss of too much blood. At the farthest end lay Natsu and she could not bear to see his corpse. He had the worst injuries of them all, and Lucy was sure he died painfully. His eyes were missing, leaving black, lifeless holes on his face, his stomach was oozing out lots of blood, and his limbs were bended at the wrong direction and mutilated. Holes were everywhere on his body, like a voodoo doll that was pierced countless times. Tears were already streaming from her eyes, and she vowed to herself she would avenge her friends._

_She finally noticed the figure standing a few feet in front of her, and as she looked up, she was so stunned she could not say a word._

_Standing in front of her was herself, but she was wearing an elegant yet at the same time Goth black dress. But the dress was covered in blood, so was her hands and face, and there wasn't a single scratch to be seen._

_It took a few moments for Lucy to process everything, and when she did, a huge wave of grief washed over her. She killed them! I KILLED THEM! I KILLED MY OWN FRIENDS!_

_She started to scream and scream and scream while tears kept on flowing down her cheeks._

_Lucy._

"_Lucy…"_

_Who's that? It sounded familiar, but then again, it didn't matter and she still kept on screaming._

"Lucy!"

Lucy opened her eyes and she shielded it from the blinding sun light.

"Lucy, are you alright?" Lucy found the source of the voice and it came from Natsu, was holding her shoulders with a worried expression on his face. "You were screaming at the top of your voice! What happened? Are you hurt?"

She shook her head and realized there were tears on her cheeks. She touched them, and remembering the scene in her dream, she suddenly hugged Natsu.

"Thank the stars you're still alive, and everyone too!" She hugged Natsu so tightly that he was almost choking for air before Lucy released him and hugged the others. She was oblivious to the pink hues on Natsu's cheeks and told them about her nightmare. They comforted her that it will never happen, but Charle and Sapphire were deeply disturbed about it.

_Sapphire…_

_I know, and I also cannot understand it myself. I will ask Grandine about it once we get back. For now, just stay silent and don't tell anyone that your vision was exactly the same as Lucy's dream._

Charle nodded, and kept silent the whole time, and no one suspected her, since she doesn't talk much herself. But Lucy noticed again the disturbed face of the white cat. She approached her as the others were packing up and getting ready for the trip, and she sat down beside her.

"So, are you gonna tell me what's disturbing you and Sapphire?"

Charle shot her an alarmed look and sighed. "Guess it can't be helped. I don't think telling you is a very good idea. Maybe sometime in the near future, I'll be ready then."

Lucy nodded as she gazed across the clearing and focused on a small berry bush. "Is it related to your vision?"

Charle was surprised again. "Yes. Since when did you become so good at reading people's minds?"

Lucy shrugged, still gazing in front of her. "I guess it's just that you're kind of easy to read when you have a vision."

"I see…"

When all of them finished packing, they both stood up and followed Sapphire, now in human form, to where their destination was. Apparently, if they flew there, it would just take about a few hours, but since Sapphire insisted on walking and they didn't have any person who knows the way, they didn't have much choice but to comply.

Natsu was perfectly fine with walking, but the others weren't, especially Lucy, who was tired for some unknown reason, and needed somebody to support her. Obviously it was Natsu who was helping her, as he growled at anyone who attempted to come near her, including Erza. This action did not anger her, much to Gray's dismay; in fact, she seemed to be chuckling to herself. Lucy did not notice that Natsu was protective over her as she seemed to be too tired to notice anything.

"Alright, we are currently at the base of the mountain, and need to find the safest route that will lead us to the top." Sapphire said to everyone and bowed down her head to think. "I remember there was a small path before, and I'm sure it is still here. We need to find it."

"Why can't we just climb up?" Gray asked.

"Because there are many vicious creatures living here, and I prefer that we can finish our task here ASAP with the least possibility of running into fights with animals." Sapphire shrugged. "Unless, of course, you're not in that much of a rush." She pointed at Lucy who looked paler than before and started to wheeze.

Erza quickly took out the medicine that Grandine had given to them and scooped some green and gooey substance with a spoon. They all twitched at the pungent smell the jelly like medicine gave off, especially Sapphire and the dragon slayers, and when the spoon came near to Lucy's mouth, she shut her lips tight and her eyes were tearing up. She shook her head with a disgusted expression on her face.

"C'mon Luce, it might not smell or look that good, heck, it might not even taste that good, but you've got to eat it, or else your fever will come back." Natsu said in an equally disgusted yet at the same time encouraging tone.

Lucy stared at him for a second and back to the medicine on the spoon. She gulped and slowly opened her mouth. Erza place the medicine inside her mouth before taking out the spoon and wiping it with a clean cloth. Meanwhile the others were waiting for Lucy's reaction. At first her expression looked like she was gonna puke it all out, but her face slowly turned into amusement as she chewed on the medicine, and then finally swallowing it down.

"How did it taste like?" All of them asked at the same time. Lucy creased her eyebrows together as if thinking before blurting out saying that it was ok.

"It didn't taste half bad, somewhat minty and a little bit sweet, like those mint candies. Though it did smell _really_ bad, and it felt like I was chewing on something between paste and glue."

"So how are you feeling right now?" Erza asked before returning the jar in the bag.

"I'm fine now. Wow, it seems like Grandine's medicines have immediate effect."

Wendy nodded. "Of course, she's the best healer in the whole world!"

Lucy stood up, but her legs still felt wobbly, like a newborn baby, so Natsu still had to help her, and Lucy kept on apologizing along the way, though Natsu didn't mind at all.

They searched for the path Sapphire mentioned and Gray found a narrow dirt road that was almost covered in weeds and led to the mountain. Sapphire confirmed that it was the same road in her memories and they started to climb up. After an hour walking, they noticed that the temperature had dropped and they (except for Gray, Natsu, and Sapphire) had to put on some extra clothing to keep themselves warm.

"We just walked for, what, an hour? And the temperature has greatly decreased, how can this be possible?" Erza asked, clutching on the cloak around her.

"Well, that's what's weird about this place. They also said that when you entered a certain point, even time will act strangely, though I never bothered to check. But right now is not the weirdest yet." Sapphire shrugged. "You'll be surprised when we get to the top, if we ever get there, that is."

"Hold on for sec," Gray raised a palm, "you mean we still have to encounter danger? I thought this is the route where there aren't dangerous creatures?"

"I never said we won't run into them. Obviously, you weren't listening." Sapphire shrugged again and continued walking. "Oh, and I advise you, don't put on too much clothes, you'll regret it later."

Despite the warning, they put on more clothing as the temperature was getting lower and lower. It was even snowing after more walking, and Lucy felt that her fingers were already half frozen despite the thick wool gloves she was wearing.

After a few minutes of more climbing, and when Lucy thought she freeze to death, the temperature suddenly became warmer, and it still grew warmer at a strangely rapid speed that none of them had time to register that it had suddenly became as hot as a scorching desert. When their body finally noticed the temperature change, it literally screamed for them to take whatever thick clothing they had on, and when they had taken off every extra clothing, they were already sweating like a waterfall, particularly Gray.

"What the hell is wrong with this place?" Lucy exclaimed. The sun was bright, a little _too_ bright for her liking, and her skin was already red under the intense UV rays. _I should've brought some sunscreen if I knew it would turn out like this. _Erza has already taken off her thick armor and wore t-shirt with shorts.

"Like I said," Sapphire, who looked like she had jogged for three hours straight, said to them, "this is the strangest place you will have ever encountered in your whole life. Anyways, stop with the talking, it will just waste our energy. Let's keep on walking and hope that we leave this place as soon as we can."

They didn't say another word and they climbed even faster as the temperature was getting too hot to bear, and they all collapsed on the ground when they finally walked out from that miniature hell.

Lucy checked the time on her wrist watch and noticed that it was acting strangely. She remembered that Sapphire said time can also act strange in this region. "Hey, Sapphire, my watch says it's already 7 o'clock, but I know that we arrived here 10 in the morning, and we have only been walking for about two hours if I estimated it correctly. Is this considered normal here?"

Sapphire nodded. "That's what they say."

They decided to take a small break and Happy walked to Charle, offering her some water and fish (where the hell did he get that?), and she rejected it, as usual. Gray sat under the tree and just closed his eyes, waiting for his heartbeat and body temperature to return to normal. Wendy lied down on the soft grass, panting for air and staring at the blue sky. Erza sat on the grass beside Wendy and let the wind run through her scarlet hair. Sapphire found a small stream nearby and jumped in it, with clothes and all, and drank as much as she can while replenishing her magic and strength. Lucy sat leaning on a tree and closed her eyes, taking a small nap while Natsu sat beside her, taking in her scent and silently wishing for her to fall asleep and letting her lean on his shoulder, though this idea confused him much. It seems like his brain cannot catch up with his heart's desires. After they had rested and replenished their energy, they started to climb again.

"If we're fortunate enough, we will get to the top with no more obstacles in our way. But if not, then we'll have to pass through some hungry animals. But I tell you, you won't like it."

Natsu, being Natsu, ignored her warning and climbed up ahead of them. Sapphire sighed.

"Aren't you going to stop him?"

"It's his problem when he gets fatally injured." Sapphire replied coldly. "Besides, it would be better if he learned it the hard way."

It seemed like the Goddess of Fortune decided to not help them, as they did encounter pack of wolf-like creatures, but they were different from the ones they met before finding Grandine, and this time, they're way more bigger and vicious looking. They barely managed to escape alive from the creatures, and even Sapphire had no power against them. All of them had many wounds on their bodies, mostly cuts and bruises. They used the other jar of ointment Grandine had given to them and applied it on their injuries.

"Sapphire, why don't you turn into a dragon and just scare them away? It would be easier that way won't it?" Gray asked as he gingerly applied the bright red gel on his injured left hand.

Sapphire sighed. "I have my own reasons."

"And what may those reasons be?" Erza asked.

Sapphire just shook her head. "I'm sure you all understand the feeling of having something you can say but need to hide from others, right? And also the same feeling of being pressured to say your secret. If you truly understand that, then I assume that you all will stop asking me these kinds of questions, as I will not entertain them. Perhaps in the future I will or may, but definitely not now."

They all nodded silently and went back to applying the gel on open wounds. After waiting for a few minutes, the wounds started to heal; leaving no trace of any scar behind, though they already suspected this, since it was enhanced by Grandine's healing powers.

"Okay, at least we're somewhere near the middle. We will probably set camp here." Sapphire took out a map and pointed to where they were and they're current goal. "It's just a few more hours of walking. By the way Natsu, I'm sure that this time you will take heed of my warning?"

Her piercing blue eyes glared coldly at him, sending shivers down his spine. "A-aye, ma'am!" he glanced sideways at his team mates, particularly Lucy. This time, he wouldn't dare to risk of her getting injured anymore.

Sapphire nodded in satisfaction, and they once again set off. The road this time was quite harsh and uneven, making it very difficult for them to pass by. Once they had to pass by a hanging bridge that looked like it would break any moment, and after the bridge they had to walk through a ledge on a cliff with very little space for them to step on, and they had to hug the wall for dear life and cautious not to look down.

After passing the ledge, they had to pass another bridge, but this time it was a make-shift one made from a rotting tree that was most probably pushed down.

"Not again…" Lucy panted. She was starting to get tired and beads of sweat were forming on her forehead. "I'm not sure if I can make it." She stared at the other side of the log, which was very far. She assumed that the green bush-like things on the other side were trees, and it was a _long_ way.

Sapphire was about to say something, but Natsu bent down slightly and carried Lucy in his arms. Everyone was surprised by his sudden action, particularly Lucy.

"N-not again!" Lucy blushed and thrashed wildly, wanting to get down.

"Relax, Luce! You looked like you were tired, so I thought that maybe I could help." Natsu looked down at her and flashed a grin, completely oblivious to her burning cheeks.

"Well, well, well. Looks like the couple are having a good time, why don't we just leave them alone for a little bit…?" Gray whistled at them while glancing at the others. The others were smirking, and even Charle was smiling at them.

"S-shut up, Gray! Or else don't blame me if I cut your tongue off!" And Gray immediately shut his mouth. He knew Lucy would keep her word. She always did.

Lucy, satisfied that Gray was now quiet, squirmed in Natsu's arms, but he just held on to her tightly. Sighing, she admits defeat and just rested her head on his chest, letting his heartbeat lull her to sleep. Natsu noticed that her movements slowed down and completely stop, he looked down at her and found her eyes slowly close as her breathing steadied.

_Wow, I never knew that she would look this pretty when she sleeps…_ Indeed, the sight of her sleeping soundly in his arms had quickened his heartbeat, and he felt the heat rise up to his cheeks.

_Cute._

Sapphire's sudden interruption made Natsu jump and he glared at her.

_Oops, sorry, did I interrupt you? Its okay, go on and continue to examine her, pretend that nothing happened…_ Though she was apologizing, Natsu heard the hint of mischief in her tone.

_YOU DARE…_ Natsu growled in his mind, which was received by Sapphire.

_Oh, are you threatening me? _She sounded mad, and Natsu almost thought so, until he heard her chuckle. _Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Well, maybe some friends of mine, whom you also know._

_Don't, I'm begging you. They'll laugh at me for eternity; maybe even call me a perv, which is _not_ in my future achievement list._

Sapphire just chuckled silently._ I make no promises, boy. By the way, do you know what "love" means?_

_What? Love? Heard of it before. What is it?_

Sapphire mentally face-slapped herself of his stupidity.

_Don't tell me you're feeling these kinds of things yet you don't know what "love" is?_

Natsu didn't answer, and Sapphire assumed he nodded. She can't see him, since she's walking at the front, and Natsu was staying at the back. She sighed. _Ask your friends. I don't want to waste my energy explaining basic things to a person whose IQ is probably lower than a baby._

It took a while for Natsu to process what she had just said, and felt deeply offended. _Hey, it's not my fault I don't know these…_

_Yes. It _is_ your fault. Your fault for being foolishly ignorant._

_Hey!_ He replied, but Sapphire didn't answer back. Seems like she cut off the connection. (What is this, telephone?)

Thus, Natsu added another topic on his list to discuss with his nakama, which will probably shock their heads off.

They walked for a few miles and Sapphire stopped.

"What's the matter?" Gray, being right behind her, almost bump into her.

"What is it, Sapphire-san?" Happy flew beside her and saw that she was deep in thought. He shrugged and flew onwards.

"Happy! No!" Sapphire noticed that Happy was flying ahead of her and tried to stop him. Happy heard Sapphire, but he didn't stop, and he hit head first on an invisible barrier.

"Happy!" Wendy cried out and ran to catch the unconscious cat. She caught him in time before he hit the ground and examined the space in front of her. She slowly reached out and her hand lay flat on the air, as if touching a wall. "Is this…a barrier?"

"Yes. But I wonder why. The last time a came here, there wasn't anything like this." She reached out to touch it too, but once her hand had contact to the magic barrier, the ground shook violently as they lost balance and crouched on the ground. It shook for about five minutes before everything stopped, and they slowly stood up.

"Was that an earthquake?" Erza asked, glancing around to see if anyone's injured.

"Not just an ordinary earthquake." Sapphire said darkly. She knew this all too well, and she has a feeling that she will meet someone whom she had angered in the past. Someone she _really _doesn't want to see right now.

"Now, look who we got here. Ain't this Sapphire?" A deep voice sprang up above them, and they all saw a man wearing a black cloak in the air, not floating, but flying. This person has black wings on his back!

"Mammon…" Sapphire locked her hands to fists. "What are you doing here?"

"Obviously, to guard the _Floris Infernum_ of course, and to give you a message from the Lord, Lucifer."

At the sound of his name, everyone's head perked up, which made Mammon chuckle.

"I see that the Lord is quite popular."

"Just shut up and tell us what the damn message!" Natsu growled at him, his arm locked tightly on the sleeping Lucy for an unknown reason.

"Such an impatient bunch." Mammon sighed as he flapped his wings a few more times. "The Lord told me to warn you to give up on this quest for her cure." He raised his gloved hand and pointed at Lucy.

"What? And why should we?" Erza asked, giving him a glare, though he seems to be unaffected.

"That I do not know. The Lord only told me to stop you."

Sapphire just bowed down her head, not saying a thing, but when Gray and Erza were preparing to take him down, Sapphire told them to stop.

"But why?"

"Yeah, he's trying to stop us from saving Lucy. We can't let that happen!"

"You can't. You can't defeat him…"

Mammon grinned. "Ah, do you still remember last time, when you have done something to anger me? I forgot what did you do, all I know is that we got in a fight, and I remember you lost in just five minutes."

"I was rash and immature then. This time, it's different." Sapphire glared at him. "Let's go." She ordered them to go back to where they came from.

"But we can't just leave Lucy like this!" Natsu cried. He can't let some freaky arrogant guy stop him from saving her. But he saw the anger in Sapphire's eyes and backed away. He has never seen anyone this mad before.

"Oh, and when you get back, say hi to Grandine for me!" Mammon yelled behind them.

"Grandine was involved?" Wendy gasped.

"Not only Grandine. All of the dragons have a grudge against him and Lucifer's other servants." Sapphire said in clenched teeth.

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><p>Pardon the wrong grammar and spelling if you find them, I was writing this late at night and I'm really tired, and I was rushing too, since I found out that it's been ages since my last update :|<p>

So? What do you think? Please review!


	9. Chapter 9 A Giant Beaver

Hey guys! So it's me again, after another (very) long wait for the next chapter of this story! I'm sorry :(

I know that you guys have been waiting. Seriously, I never thought that many people would like it. At all.

So, yeah, sorry to dissapoint you! :((

Oh, and I have a **VERY** important announcement at the end of this chapter, so be sure to read it, cause I don't want to recieve any PMs about it :/

* * *

><p>Disclaimer: I don't own FT :<p>

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><p>Chapter 9 A Giant Beaver<p>

"Man, so how're we supposed to get the cure for Lucy?" Natsu asked.

Sapphire didn't reply. Erza bowed down her head. "Since they don't want us to find a cure for her, I'm guessing that there are also others who are guarding the herbs."

"Well then, we have no choice but to return to Grandine."

The others nodded in reply and Sapphire immediately turned to dragon form.

"Hey, if you're flying us back, then why didn't you want to fly us here?"

"I didn't want to be seen by Mammon, because this place is his territory, but since he knows that we're here, I guess there's no point in hiding now." Sapphire sighed back. Natsu let Happy carry him while the others hopped on Sapphire's back. Sapphire flew as fast as she could and they came back to Grandine's cave within an hour, on her back the horrified and disheveled look of Erza, Gray, Wendy, Lucy, and a very tired Happy.

Grandine heard the sound of wings flapping outside her cave so she took a look outside and was surprised.

"You guys are back already? I estimated that it would at least take five days before you find everything."

Sapphire explained the situation and her face immediately fell to a frown. She gestured for them to come inside the cave as she and sapphire turned to human form and followed them inside.

"Damn, I never thought that Lucifer was behind this, even though the possibility was quite high…" Grandine waved her hand as chairs came floating from the other room. They all sat down and a tray with a teapot and tea cups came floating again. "Drink it. It will help soothe your worries and stress."

"So what do we do now? We can't always rely on that medicine to suppress Lucy's illness!"

"Indeed," Grandine sighed, "we cannot fight them head-on. Even if they're just seven and we'd probably be a small army if you add all the dragons. For now, I will search for another cure; despite the very low possibility…this will be hard." Grandine muttered as she quickly went in her room.

Lucy kept her eyes on the tea Grandine gave. _If it wasn't for this stupid illness…we'd probably be reunited with our friends again._ She felt tears starting to form at the corner of her eyes as she fought to keep them in place and not flow down her cheek.

_D__on't worry…we'll find a cure for you soon enough, and besides, nobody blames you for this, so you shouldn't blame yourself either._ Sapphire's voice reached her thoughts and she smiled at her.

_T__hank you…_ _Sapphire, I've wanted to ask you this…you seem to speak more frequently to the dragon slayers than to Erza, Gray, and the cats, and much more to me, how so?_

_W__e can talk to dragon-slayers; because they were taught the ways of a dragon, and they're minds are linked with the dragon who taught them, so other dragons can follow that link to his or her mind. As to you…that I do not know. It seems like I can tap into your mind and practically see everything inside it without any difficulty at all. Of course, I can turn it on and off, so you don't need to worry about me reading all your thoughts_. Sapphire chuckled at Lucy's panicking expression. _It is rude, after all._

_T__hat's a relief. Anyway, how come you don't know? I'm just a normal human like Gray and Erza._

Sapphire shook her head. _Unless you aren't a 'normal' human._ She thought to herself. Something about Lucy seems…how to say…weird? No, that's not it. Strong? Quite, but no. Sapphire can't put the right words to the aura Lucy was emanating, and it isn't because of the spell cast on her. The first time she met her, which was in the forest, she noticed it at first glance, and that there seemed to be gold light surrounding her body, but it disappeared in a blink, so she thought it was just an illusion. _And that spell._ She knew it all too well. She also noticed it after a few days of traveling together with them before they met up with Grandine, but had yet to confirm it a while ago. It was a death spell, she called it, for she had no idea what it's called, and she had seen the men of Lucifer cast it on countless innocent people who broke his rules. All of them died right on the spot and their bodies started rotting in a horrifying speed. But somehow, Lucy didn't die immediately, and Sapphire can sense that it's slowly eating away her organs, just in a very, _very_ slow rate. She recognized it from the heavy and dark light surrounding her that's only visible to a dragon's eye. It was the same as the one on those people who are now dead. Grandine doesn't recognize it because she wasn't there when it all happened, but every dragon who witnessed their cruelty will know when they see it, and it still haunts them after all those years.

As she was unwillingly recalling those bad memories, she heard a faint sound, and sounded like it was calling to Lucy. She perked her head as the noise and gotten louder. Soon it was loud enough for Lucy to hear, though her companions were oblivious to it.

"_Lucy…"_

"Huh? Is that…Levy?"

The others looked up to her. "Lucy, what are you talking about? Levy isn't here."

"No, I'm sure I just heard her calling to me!"

"C'mon, Luce. Levy isn't here. Is your fever coming back?" Natsu asked and reached out to touch her forehead, but it was slapped away by Lucy.

"Shut up! I can't hear her!" Lucy motioned for them to quiet, and Erza was about to say something when Sapphire held up her lifted her finger to her lips. Lucy sat there for a few seconds, trying her hardest to listen to the odd noise she heard a while ago.

"_Lu-chan!"_

"Levy!" Lucy cried out. "Can you hear me? Where are you? And how are talking to me?"

The others just stared at her with the "are-you-ok?" look, but Lucy ignored them and listened for Levy's reply.

"_I can't answer that many questions at once." _Levy giggled, but quickly returned to a serious tone. _"Listen, Lu-chan, what I'm going to tell you might surprise you but… just listen, ok? I don't have much time, and somebody's messing with the connection. Listen, where you are right now, is probably in the book. Don't freak out, just listen. After you read the words "Evanescere" and after the light faded, you and the people nearest to the book got sucked in. Well, that's what we hypothesize. We are currently in the guild in the real world, and you're in a book. We made a list of the people who got transported there together with you: Natsu, Gray, Erza, the cats, Wendy, Juvia, Mirajane, Gajeel, and Lisanna, once you found all of them, you need to say the reverse spell so you can return, the spell is…_

Lucy waited for Levy to tell her the spell, but her voice died away before she can even mutter the word.

"Levy? Are you there? Tell me the spell! Levy!" Lucy practically shouted, but she heard nothing. The connection was broken. _Wait, she said someone was messing with the connection, so someone did this! They didn't want to us to have the spell!_

"Lucy, are you ok?" Erza cast a worried glance at her. Lucy's strange behavior is disturbing.

"Someone messed with the connection, and you almost knew how to return to your world…" Sapphire sighed. "Who could that someone be?"

"I don't know, and I'm not sure if I want to…anyway, guys, Levy…!" but before she could finish, a loud noise that sounded like thunder came from outside the cave and they heard the rustling of grass and cloth, together with some people talking.

"What was that?" Wendy said, wide-eyed.

"Why don't we go out and check?"

They all went out and gasped. They saw Mammon standing in front of them, at his side two more people who were wearing the same black cloak as him and black wings on their back.

"Mammon!"

"And with two other freaks!" Natsu said.

Gray punched him on the head.

"Ow! What? I'm just telling the truth!"

Mammon and his two other companions chuckled in amusement as the two were fighting right in front of them, not feeling insulted at all.

"Mammon, Leviathan, and Asmodeus, what are you doing here? I thought that you were only to guard the flowers…"

"Change of plans." The guy at the right, whom they assumed was Asmodeus, said in a deep voice, deeper than Mammon's, but much sexier. Well, he _is_ the devil that corresponds to lust.

"Yep, the Lord told us to remove the barriers." The guy at the left, Leviathan, said.

"Why don't you just remove the spell on her?" Sapphire gestured to Lucy.

"Well, the Lord didn't tell us to remove it. Besides, it's fun to see you guys suffer." Leviathan said, a smirk plastered on his face that made Natsu and Gray want to punch him _really_ hard. And Gray held back, knowing that it would do them no good if he really did it. But Natsu didn't. He ran to Leviathan with his right arm lit on fire and raised. He was about to punch his face when Leviathan moved to the right and Natsu's punch failed to hit him. He was too stunned to react and his body just fell forward. Leviathan then countered and gave him an elbow punch to the back of his neck, which sped up Natsu's fall and his jaw hit the ground.

"Natsu!"

"Oh, don't worry. He'll live. But the next time you dare do that to us, it won't be as simple as that anymore." Mammon glared at them, and for an instant, they thought his eyes turned from dark brown to red. "Now that we're finished delivering the message from the Lord, it's time we go back. See you again, which I'm pretty sure we definitely will." After he finished his sentence, they flapped their wings and they flew away.

After they were out of sight, Lucy rushed to the unconscious Natsu. "Natsu, are you alright?"

He groaned and showed them the spot where his jaw hit the ground. "Ugh, I fell like shit…"

"You should be, after acting without thinking." Erza said in a cold voice, but helped Lucy carry Natsu inside the cave. They saw Grandine sitting on one of the chairs while drinking a cup of her own tea. After they let Natsu sit on a chair, she stood up and examined the bruise for a while, and shrugged.

"It's just a bruise. It will probably heal within a few weeks at most, though it will hurt most for the first few days. And I'm not gonna give any kind of anesthesia, so you better bear with it."

"Umm, Grandine, I think you forgot that this is Natsu we're talking about…" Wendy said quietly.

"If he were a normal human, then he would be writhing in pain right now. Because they tend to cast spells and curses while attacking, and when you come in contact with their attack, it will spread to your whole body in an instant. Our immune system can fight it off, but humans have a harder time at it. And since dragon-slayers are technically part dragon, it won't be that painful compared to normal humans, but it will still hurt, a lot." Grandine explained, and they all nodded. Happy wanted to say that Mammon had arrived together with Leviathan and Asmodeus, but Grandine just raised her hand.

"I know. I heard it. And they even gave us some gifts." She pointed at the small table where the tray with teacups and the teapot were, and they found a small sack. Lucy reached out to the sack and opened it. She turned the sack upside down and poured the contents of the sack on the small table and they gasped. Inside were three kinds of flowers, exactly the same flowers that they were supposed to get as part of the ingredient for Lucy's cure.

"Hmm, guess they saved us some time from going back to that mountain. I'm not sure if I can bear it anymore."

"So, where's our next destination?" Charle asked.

Erza opened the map and pointed to an encircled spot with drawings of black trees. "The Wanderer's Forest. There we will find another three herbs."

"Yes." Grandine nodded. "But I will have to ask, no, order you to heed to my warning. I'm not lying that only few, and _really_ few people came out from that place alive, but most of them got insane anyway. So you all have to be cautious and _not_ look for danger, or else you'd be digging your own grave. I recall that you have met some wolves on Leona and barely escaped. The creatures you will encounter in the forest, if you're that unfortunate, are more vicious that those you've met." Her eyes scanned the entire room, her gaze pausing on each and every one of them, just like what she did before they set off for Leona. Her ice cold stare sent shivers down their spines, and they thought for an instant that they saw the demon. Her eyes turned to red for an instant, before turning back to the usual whitish-gray. "Now, give me the sack I gave you before and I'll add some things that you might need during your trip."

Erza gave the medium-sized sack and Grandine hurried to her room. They all sat down on the chairs and Lucy pulled a chair beside Natsu, and sat down. She examined the small dark speck on his jaw; she assumed that it was a bruise forming, and the others, who watched them silently, added another thing to gossip about once they get back to their guild. Lucy and Natsu were chatting and they seemed to forget the existence of their nakama, like they were the only ones in the room and Gray had to clear his throat when they noticed they were moving closer and closer to each other, reminding them that there are still people around them.

Both of them jumped and Happy flew above them while singing, "Natsu and Lucy sitting on a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"Happy! Shut the hell up!" Natsu stood up yelling, with a bright red blush on his cheeks. But once he stood up, he collapsed back to the chair with a pained expression written on his face.

"Natsu, are you alright?" Lucy immediately knelt beside him. "What's wrong?"

Natsu was in so much pain that his facial features were all crunched up together and he can only mutter moans of pain while hugging his chest. Grandine heard the commotion outside and went out of her stock room. She saw Natsu and quickly examined his chest.

"Looks like the spell is starting to spread. Here, this is the same medicine that I gave to Lucy. It has the same function, which is suppressing whatever illness you have, though yours isn't really an illness." She placed the medicine jar in the sack together with the healing gel and many other things, since the sack looked much bulkier compared to the last time they got it, and it was heavier, since Erza had to use two hands instead of one. Grandine reached in her pocket and gave them the map.

"Here. I marked the place where you'll be going. Don't get lost. And I added another location. It's the last place you'll have to go to and where you can find the last ingredient."

"What's that place called?"

"The Devil's Valley." Grandine said softly.

~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~

"Why is this place called "The Devil's Valley" again?" Natsu asked.

"Because this place is like hell. Literally." Sapphire said in reply. "It's the hottest place you can find on earth, and no other living being can walk out of there alive."

"And why are we risking our lives to go there? Can't we just buy these flowers on the market or something?" Gray asked.

They were flying on top of a seemingly endless desert and the sun was too bright. The wind was dry and warm, and dehydration seemed to be a condition they would be in really soon, but they can't drink the water unless it is absolutely needed, as what Grandine and Sapphire said. '_It would be extremely hard to find any source of water there, much less an oasis, so I advise you to not drink a drop of water if not necessary, unless you want to die of dehydration, that is.'_ _Grandine had said when she gave the sack to Erza._ '_I placed extra bottles of pure water, that's why it's heavier, but I guess you can bear with the weight, seeing how strong you are._ _And I also placed some items in there I which you might find necessary for your journey.'_ They all said their thanks and after a few hours after their departure, a strong gush of hot, dry wind hit them, and Lucy almost thought that she inhaled sand.

"I though we're going to the Wanderer's Forest first?"

_We are._

"But, this desert…"

_Oh, it__'s not the Devil's Valley. The Devil's Valley is much hotter than this one._ Sapphire said and noticed that they all turned to a deathly pale. _Oh, c'mon, it's not as hot as you think it is…_

"But you said that no living being came out of that place alive." Gray pointed out.

_I'__m pretty sure you can all make it, seeing as you came out from Leona alive. The heat that we all experienced there is almost the same as the temperature in the Devil's Valley._ Sapphire explained.

This somewhat soothed their anxiety, but thinking about going through the same torture as what happened in Leona made their stomachs churn, particularly Gray. He never liked heat.

"So," Wendy said in a cheerful tone, trying to change the subject and atmosphere, "after we get the herbs in the Wanderer's Forest and Devil's Valley, and after Grandine has made the cure, we're gonna search for our lost guild mates?"

Natsu nodded. "Yup, and we'll start first with Lisanna."

"Why Lisanna?" Lucy asked.

"Well, because Grandine said she had heard of her a few days before that she's staying in a town, so I guess we could search there first. Besides, we don't have any other clues about the other's whereabouts, do we?"

"Uh, I guess so…" Lucy tried to ignore the uncomfortable feeling that's building up in her chest. _It's true. It's not because Natsu still has feelings for her, right? And they were children back then! It's just puppy love! Wait, what am I so worried about? He never said that he liked me, did he? So I shouldn't be acting all defensive like I'm his girlfriend or something…_

_R__eally, Lucy, after all that's been through you guys, you still can't tell?_ Sapphire interrupted Lucy's train of thoughts, and it made her jump.

_Sapphire! Don__'t scare me like that! And of course I'm not dumb! But how can I be sure when he doesn't say it in front on my face?_

_*Sigh* I suppose you__'re right. But how can you expect that from someone like Natsu?_

_W__ell…_

_L__isten, when you're with guys like him, in whom he's probably the only one, it will take a lot of time before he even realizes what his heart feels, so you can't wish that he'll say it to you immediately. But even though his brain can't process what he feels, his body can, so you should pay extra attention to his body language, and by what has happened after observing you two for days, I'm perfectly sure that he has feelings for you._

Lucy felt the blood rush to her face as she listened to what Sapphire had said.

_Sapphire, you don't need to say it so bluntly…_

_O__ops, sorry._ Sapphire said, but with a tone that annoyed Lucy very much. _Anyways, you shouldn't worry that he'll be taken away by another woman._

_F__ine, fine, just shut up, okay?_

Sapphire chuckled silently and Natsu heard it. He turned to Lucy, and noticed that her face was a bright red, and when she caught his gaze, she turned around, her blush turning to a deeper scarlet.

~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~

"Okay," Erza took out the map and a piece of paper. "We are now at the border of the forest, and according to Grandine, the herbs are located near a waterfall, in a cave, and at the very center of the forest."

"Where should we start first?"

"Waterfall, since it's the nearest."

All of them agreed and started their search for the waterfall. According to what Grandine had said, the waterfall they're finding is no ordinary waterfall. The water seems to look normal, but it has magical abilities, and it makes the plants growing around it also magical. Their goal is to find that waterfall and that particular herb that is said to cure any kind of sickness or curse. Now, their only problem is how to find that waterfall and get the herb. Grandine also told them that since it has magical abilities, it is also heavily guarded a creature that was said to be created by the gods and goddesses, for they don't want to share it to mortals. _Even deities can selfish, huh?_ Lucy thought.

_B__ut if you look at it from another view, they also have their own reasons. Think, what will happen if anybody can get this plant?_ Sapphire questioned back at her. _It will probably be extinct by now. And even if it didn't, what if it fell to the hands of people with bad intentions?_

_I__ suppose you're correct. But how do we get it if this monster we're facing is created by the supreme beings of heaven? Won't it be impossible?_

_I__t's possible. Everything has a weakness; even the gods and goddesses have them too. Now we just have to think what the weakness of that creature could be._

Lucy told them what they were conversing a while ago.

"Why don't we find the waterfall and the monster first? We can engage in combat with it first, without anybody getting hurt, of course, and then figure it's weakness out?" Erza suggested.

"Wow, never thought of that before. No wonder you're an S-class mage!" Lucy said in admiration.

"Hmph, I could've thought of that." Natsu pouted. "Besides, I'll also become an S-class mage someday!"

"Yeah, yeah, but not before I do!" Gray snorted. Natsu glared at him and the once again shirtless Gray glared back.

"Whatcha glaring at, Flame brain?"

"Shut up or I'll beat you, Ice head."

"You'll have to wait a million years before you can even scratch me, dumbass."

"Oh, we'll see about that, exhibitionist!" Natsu practically yelled at him and threw a punch, but was stopped by Erza's hand on his wrist.

"Just what are you two doing again?" Her ice-cold stare and deathly-low voice sent shivers down their spines, and as she was busy giving them punishment, A.K.A. beating them up, Lucy took out another map which showed the detailed view of the forest.

"Hmm….so we're somewhere here…" She pointed her finger on the map. "And the waterfall is here…"

"Ow! Sorry! We won't do it again!"

"So it must be pretty near…"

"Ah! I think you broke one of my ribs!"

"Umm, Lucy-san…" Wendy said in a small voice. "I think Erza-san's trying to kill them…"

"Oh, leave them alone." Charle snorted.

"Aye! I'm sure they'll be fine." Happy floated about.

"Let's see…" Lucy started to push the bushes in front of her away so she can get a better look at what's in front of her.

"AH! WE PROMISE WE WON'T DO IT AGAIN!"

A vein popped out of Lucy's forehead and she turned around the three people who were making noise.

"SHUT UP! I can't concentrate! Do you want to find this or not?"

The three of them stopped abruptly what they were doing and saluted. Even Erza.

"Yes, ma'am!" They said in unison.

As Lucy turned around again and they were whispering behind her back.

"Damn, Lucy's so scary…" Sapphire said

"I've never seen Lucy-san this mad before…"

"Me neither…" Natsu sighed.

"Hmm, she has potential to be the next S-class mage." Erza muttered and this remark left Gray and Natsu devastated. Lucy, a person who had just stayed in the guild for less than a year, already has Erza's trust in becoming an S-class more than them?

"Idiots…" Charle sighed.

"Aye!"

After a few minutes of searching, Gray shouted at them. "Hey, I think I found the waterfall!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, it's really pretty, but you won't like the sight beside it." He said cautiously.

They scrambled to where Gray was and took a good look at it. The view had them both breath-taken and shocked.

The waterfall was indeed beautiful, with the clear blue water falling from the top to the bottom and looked like thousands of diamonds together under the sunlight, and the patch of green surrounding the small lake was also pretty, with a variety of flowers growing on it with different colors. The turned their eyes to something that resembled a huge boulder resting at the side of the waterfall. They noticed that it seemed to be moving up and down with a rhythm and they realized that it was the creature that Grandine told them to be careful about!

It was dark gray, so it looked like a boulder, but it was as tall and big as the guild building. How're they supposed to fight something like that? Also, it has a tail that somewhat looks like a beaver's tail.

"Careful, this creature is called 'Afanc', and it is sensitive to noise when it is asleep. A while ago, it was okay for Gray to shout, since we were quite far, but if we're going to find the herb in that pile of flowers, I suggest we keep the noise down, and when I say down, as in _really_ down." Sapphire whispered. "And no, Natsu. You cannot fight, unless you want us to be crushed" She glared at Natsu whose mouth was hanging half open, and he quietly nodded, though with much hesitation.

They all started to tip-toe to that patch of plants and started to find the flower that fit Grandine's drawing. It was a small, white flower with medium sized leaves and had a fairly nice scent.

Just when they were identifying each flower they plucked, somebody seemed to step on a dry tree branch and it made a loud snap. At first, nobody seemed to move or breath, and when nothing happened and they thought it was safe, the giant boulder like creature began to move. It slowly stood up to its full height in a wobbly manner, and when it looked down and saw the ashen faces to of the gang, it made a loud and eerie cry that threatened to pop their eardrums.

Now that it's facing them, they had a good look of the monster. It looked exactly like a beaver, with the front teeth and whiskers, but the teeth looked sharp enough to cut thought the hardest materials on the world and its blood-shot eyes told them that it's not entirely happy to see them.

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><p>Ok, guys. I know this is shorter than my previous chapter, and I feel terribly sorry. I've been trying to squeeze out everything from my brain, and I somehow managed to squeeze out this much.<p>

I've been having writer's block lately, so I decided to do this...

**Author's Note:**

Umm, so I decided to stop writing for a while and take a rest. I've been having problems with my sleep and I can't seem to have any idea of what to write right now, plus, I have school to worry about.

It's not exactly a writer's block, I know how I want the story to progress and all, and I also know what I want to happen in the story, it's just that it's like a mirror that's shattered into a millions pieces, and I've been trying to stick them together piece by piece to form a story. It's not that hard, but it's time-consuming, so I want to pause and gather up all my ideas and pile them up, then I'll continue writing.

Also, we're having probelms with our internet connection, and my mom doesn't like the idea of me going to an internet cafe, so yeah. And I posted this in a internet cafe, which is the first and last :|

It might take me weeks, or even months before I can resume my story, but I'm sure I'll be posting again within this year, or maybe next, if I forget about it (punches myself).

So, I'm terribly sorry! :'(

One more thing, the same thing with my other story, Stellar Goddess. Ugh, I don't know how to put the link on the words 'Stellar Goddes', forgive my stupidity.


	10. Chapter 10 Vampires, Friend or Enemy?

Hey, Ahyamae here! :D

I know it's been a while since I last update or uploaded a chapter in ,like, ages, so I've decided to write this last chapter, and I'll really take a break...until the next summer break :) which is less than 2 moths away, so don't worry :)) (I'm in the Philippines, and summer starts at March, so yeah, just an FYI)

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><p>Disclaimer: Nope, not the owner of FT, and will never be.<p>

* * *

><p>Chapter 10 Vampires, Friend or Enemy?<p>

They all stared at the creature with terror, and all of them turned to Erza. When they saw her horror-stricken face, they began to panic. If Erza, the Titania of Fairy Tail, was scared, then all of them have every right to be horrified to death right now.

"What now?" Gray asked Sapphire, whose head was low, thinking about something.

"Guess this leaves us no choice but to execute plan B. Damn, and I didn't want to use it…"

"Plan B? We have a plan B? What is it?" Lucy said with utmost urgency, as the beaver-like monster was eyeing them suspiciously, as if trying to process if they're a threat or not. Then, it stood to its full height, which was taller than the any other building in Magnolia, and walked towards them, its open mouth and sharp claws indicated that it has made its mind, and that they're its dinner for tonight.

"Plan B is…" Sapphire said softly, and then with the fastest speed her human legs can take her, she turned around and ran. "RUN!"

All of the rest, including the monster, was temporarily stunned. And when they realized they were the ones left, they also ran after her. The monster shrieked and ran after them, too. The Afanc was fast for its humongous build, and they had a hard time hiding from it, as it was able to sniff out every location that they hid in.

"What now? It's still chasing us!" Wendy turned around and gasped as the Afanc was gaining speed every second. "And it's closing in on us! I don't want to be eaten yet!" She cried.

"We can't let it go to any body of water, especially the lake, because it replenishes its energy once it touches water, so we need to trap it somewhere dry!"

"Why can't we just beat it up?" Natsu asked.

"Are you stupid?" Charle snorted. "It's a god's creation! You can't beat that no matter how much you want to!"

"Charle is correct. But where and how should we trap it?" Erza asked.

"Umm, we need to think faster, cuz I swear that its claws almost grazed me a while ago!" Lucy panted.

"How about the valley?" Wendy pointed at the direction they were running at. "I saw it a while ago when we were still in the air. We could trap it there, I'm pretty sure it's dry."

"Brilliant! Some of us will split up and one will lure it inside the valley. The rest go on top and smash the cliff side with all you got to create a landslide and trap it! Now the problem is who will be the one to lure it there?" Sapphire asked the rest and they all looked at Natsu.

"What?"

"You will be the one luring it inside, it's decided."

"What? No way in hell!"

"Fine," Gray groaned, "I'll do it, since you can't get a single job done…"

"Shut up! Who says I can't?"

"Well, you did turn the offer down. Besides, I can run way faster than you…"

"Oh yeah? Then let's see, if I successfully lure it in there and let you trap it, I win!"

"Oh, sure, but if you don't then you lose and you'll have to follow my every command for one week!"

"That's a deal!"

Gray grinned devilishly as Natsu was smiling idiotically. _Somehow,_ Lucy thought, _Gray can be quite evil sometimes…_

_Heh, look who's talking._

_What? What have I done before?_ Lucy asked Sapphire and she just smiled.

Erza turned around and saw that the Afanc's speed was slowly decreasing and gave Sapphire a look, Sapphire nodded as the valley was already in sight.

"Now! Split up! Natsu, you wait for the Afanc to get near you, and then you run, got it?"

Natsu nodded.

"Don't screw it up, flame brain."

"You wish, snowflake." Natsu snorted as he watched the rest go up the valley, while the Afanc was hesitating if it should keep on chasing or go back to the lake and replenish its energy first, it saw Natsu standing alone at the valley entrance, it got excited and ran at his direction. Natsu saw the Afanc getting near, and he started to run.

He ran at a moderate speed, not too fast, yet also not too slow, and he ran in a zigzag manner, as if intimidating the Afanc. The Afanc got angry and ran faster, and Natsu barely dodged its attack.

"Man, I don't think I can last any longer." Natsu panted. Just when he said that, he saw Lucy at the right side and she waved at him, he got the message and ran faster, the Afanc right behind him.

~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~

Lucy waved at Natsu and she summoned Taurus. "Open! The Gate of the Bull!"

"Moo~! Lucy-san, you're body is as hot as always!" the perverted cow said.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Listen, Taurus. I want you to create a landslide that will trap the monster, but you need to time it. I don't want you to bury Natsu with the landslide or get him trapped with the monster, got it?"

"Understooood!"

Taurus stood at the cliff side, and when Natsu was getting nearer, he used his giant axe to slam the ground.

Natsu saw Taurus and when he started to hit the walls of the cliff, he ran the fastest his feet could take him, and he barely escaped the landslide. He stopped and sat on the ground, panting and waiting for Happy to fetch him.

Meanwhile, the Afanc was too slow and when it saw it's path got blocked by tons of dirt, it sensed that something was wrong and it was about to turn the other way back to the lake, when another landslide occurred, trapping it completely. It looked up and saw Erza standing on the cliff. It realized that it was trapped and shrieked in fury and started to dig its way out, but the wall was as hard and cold as thick ice.

At the outside, Gray reinforced the dirt wall with his ice, together with Wendy.

"Natsu!"

"Happy! I'm here!" Natsu waved at his friend and he picked him up and brought him to the other side.

"Good job, Natsu!" Erza patted him at the back, a bit too hard.

"Well, at least you're still alive." Sapphire said.

"Wait a minute." Lucy said suspiciously. "Where were you the whole time?"

"Oh yeah, I didn't see you." Erza said.

"Neither did I" Gray said and looked at Wendy, the girl shook her head.

"I, uh, was standing by! Yeah, standing by in dragon form, you know, just in case Natsu gets trapped together with that monster. But that was great timing you've got there, Lucy! Hahaha!" Sapphire laughed sheepishly.

"But…"

"Now that the threat is gone, why don't we all go back and pick the flower?" She pushed Lucy forward to where they were before.

'Now, you don't want me spreading to the rest about your unrequited love for this specific person, right?' Sapphire whispered in her ear.

Lucy gasped in shock and stared at her in shock and betrayal, but Sapphire just shrugged and made a troll face.

'You devil, how could you…!'

'How could I not?'

'Fine…' Lucy sighed and urged the others to hurry up. The others were confused. She was the one was curious about Sapphire's where about, what happened to her now? Did Sapphire tell her something? They asked each other about it, but gave up immediately, thinking that Lucy is an unpredictable woman.

"By the way, Erza, why were you so scared a while ago? You've fought countless monsters twice its size!"

"I don't know. It was emitting a heavy aura and it seemed like it was directed at me. When looked at it straight at the eye, my body wouldn't listen to my command and started to shake."

When they went back to the lake, everything was peaceful, and after a brief search for other monsters, they continued to search for the flower.

"Hey, I think I got it." Wendy shouted. She showed them the small white flower and compared it to the drawing Grandine gave them. It looked exactly the same, and Wendy sniffed it. The flower gave off a pleasurable smell, like jasmines. "Yup, this is it."

The others nodded and now that they saw the flower, they plucked almost all the flowers (Sapphire restricted them from doing so).

"Great! Two more kinds and then we can leave this place!" Gray exclaimed. "I dunno why, but this forest gives me the creeps."

"Pussy…" Natsu muttered under his breath, which was heard by Gray.

"What'd you say dumbass?"

"I said you're a pussy! You got a problem with that?"

"Ugh… there they go again…" Lucy pressed her fingers on her temple, trying to ease the upcoming migraine. Suddenly, she saw a dark shadow run past at the corner of her eye. She turned around, but saw nothing, except for a few leaves falling down from the tree.

_Huh? Is it me or somebody just ran past?_

"What's wrong, Lucy?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, you look spooked." Natsu pointed out, "and your face is pale. Don't tell me your fever's coming back." He fumbled through the pouch Grandine gave them and took out the medicinal jar.

Lucy stared at the jar as if it was the most disgusting thing on earth (which practically is) and shook her head.

"No, I'm alright."

"Oh, ok." But Natsu still scooped a spoonful.

"Natsu, I said I'm ok." Just seeing the gooey substance made Lucy's stomach churn. It's not the taste that's bothering her; it's the feeling and color.

"It's not for you, I'm gonna eat this. My jaw's hurting again." He rubbed his jaw where Leviathan hit him and winced. He ate the medicine and his eyes twitched. He looked like he was chewing the most awful thing on earth and resisting barfing it all out. After a few painful looking seconds, he swallowed it and gave out a sigh of relief. "I am never eating that if not necessary."

"Told ya." Lucy patted his back. "Besides, you don't eat that when it's not necessary anyway, it's medicine."

"But my jaw still hurts."

"Because Grandine told you it has no pain-dulling effects, remember?" Gray said to him. "Said it was part of your punishment for acting so rash and immature."

"Oh yeah…" Natsu rubbed his jaw. At least it's not that purplish anymore. "Well, as long as it will heal soon, anything's ok with me."

Suddenly, his whole body went rigid, Wendy and Sapphire, too. The three of them were staring at the same direction and Natsu bore out his fangs.

"Wait, Natsu." Sapphire ordered.

"But it's a threat! Can't you feel it?"

"We cannot be sure yet."

And then they heard the sobs of a small child. The bushes in front of them rustled and a young boy about the age of 10 stumbled out. His clothes were torn and his body was full of wounds.

"Oh my." Lucy gasped and slowly walked towards him, not wanting to scare him. "You poor boy! What happened to you?"

"I-I got separated from my dad. He was hunting a deer and we got separated." He sobbed and wiped the tears of his face. "My name's Eric, can you help me find my dad?"

"No…" Natsu started.

"Of course!" Erza said. "We have plenty of time."

"But…"

"Yeah! Besides, leaving you here alone is dangerous!" Gray smiled at Eric after he glared at Natsu.

Natsu looked straight into Eric's eyes and had the weirdest feeling, like he was being sucked in those dark orbs like a whirlpool, and he suddenly wished to bring Eric back to his father, despite his protests a while ago.

"Fine, but once we find your dad, we'll immediately go."

They all followed Eric to where he came from, and Lucy walked at the back. Somehow, even though she felt sad for Eric, her brain has this feeling that something is not quite right, but she doesn't know what. Was it the fact that a young boy suddenly appeared in front of them in a dangerous forest, or the thought that the boy's father just left him there? Or both. Something strange is going on, and Natsu, the one who at first protested, suddenly decided to help Eric. Anyway, leaving the poor boy all alone in the forest isn't the right thing to do, so she just followed them.

After a few minutes, Lucy noticed something was wrong. The atmosphere's so soothing, yet no one was talking, not even Natsu, which finally made her realize that Eric is not an ordinary boy.

"Hey, what's up everyone? Why are all of you so quiet?"

Nobody responded, and that Lucy felt something cold creep up her spine, making her shiver. Everyone was walking in a synchronized manner and the Exceeds were floating in the air in a way that looked weird, like they were flying without knowing where they were going, but strangely, they didn't hit anything that came in their way, instead, they dodged everything with accuracy and precision despite the way they flew.

"_It's no use, you know, Lucy-san."_ A strange voice said. It sounded like it was only said in her mind, and she looked around, but other than her own teammates and Eric, no one can be seen.

As they walked deeper into the woods, the tree branches grew thicker and thicker until there wasn't any sunlight that could penetrate at all. And as it grew darker, Lucy felt her heartbeat go faster out of fear.

"_Now that we're in a place with no annoying sunlight, I can transform back._" The voice said again.

"W-who is it…?" Lucy trembled and griped one of her keys.

"_Why, I'm right in front of you._"

Lucy turned her eyes to the person in front of her and she saw Eric. On his young and childish face appeared a smile that shouldn't appear on the face of boys like him, and it gave Lucy shivers. Why does she feel like she's being watched by a predator who thinks of her as dinner?

"What's wrong Lucy-san? Something bothering you?" He said in a voice that a 10-year-old boy would definitely not have.

"Who…no, _what_ are you?" Lucy said in a trembling voice.

"That's rude, Lucy-san. I'm just a little boy named Eric, who you just met a while ago."

"Liar! What do you want from us? Why are you doing this?"

Eric pretended to think. "Why, you ask? Well, to make you my dinner, that's all. But right now, what I want is to know why you aren't under my mind control, usually, people just look into my eyes and they immediately fall for it, what about you?"

"I…I…"

"You don't know? I don't know either." He chuckled. "That's why I'm going to eat you first, just in case you escape." After saying that, he began to transform. A young boy right in front of her eyes started to grow bigger and the outer skin burst, showing the unusually dark skin underneath. He grew and grew until he looked about 7 feet, and his eyes were the color of blood, but other than those terrifying facts, he looked handsome. "Now, what should I do first again? Ah, right, immobilize you." And he waved his hand towards Lucy.

Lucy suddenly stopped moving backwards and stood as straight as a stick. Her limbs felt like they were tied really tight with a rope and she couldn't move them, but she could move her head, and she turned to Natsu, his eyes still empty, no life whatsoever, so was the others, and Eric started to walk towards her.

"S-stop, what are you going to do…?"

"Well, I'm a blood-sucker, or vampire, as others would like to call me, so what do you think am I going to do?"

Lucy's face immediately grew pale.

"Aww, don't do that. The blood will all rush down to you body and your neck will barely have any blood to satisfy me." He reached out his hands to cup her face and bend her head to show her neck. "Ahh….I could smell the blood rushing through your vein." He leaned in and his nose touched her neck, then he licked it.

"Ugh!" Lucy felt disgusted and terrified at the same time. She could feel her keys vibrating through her pouch.

'_Lucy…'_ Loki's voice reached her ears, too bad she couldn't move. But Loki can move through the spirit realm and the real world freely, right? Why can't he…

"Silly Lucy, do you think I would allow that?" Eric raised his head from her neck. "I'm not that stupid, you know." Lucy saw that his fangs were already out, prepared to break her skin and suck her blood.

"Now that I'm ready, here we go. I haven't eaten in ages." Then he slowly moved his open mouth to her neck.

"_Natsu…"_

Just when he was about to sink his teeth in, a fist punched his face and sent him flying away from Lucy.

"Damn you, bastard! Who said you could do that to Lucy?" Natsu's infuriated face came into sight as Lucy opened her eyes when it took too long for the feeling of being bitten came.

"Natsu! You're okay!" Lucy felt tears on the corner of her eyes. "I thought we were all going to die!"

Now that Eric has been beaten, the mind control spell on others has been undone, and all of them came back to their senses.

"What the…"

"What just happened?

"I don't know, and I think I'm about to vomit…" Wendy leaned on a tree.

"Charle, are you alright?" Happy asked the white feline.

"Hmph!"

"I-impossible, how could you break it off like that? Nobody has ever done that to me…" Eric said weakly.

"You mean punching you or breaking your spell?" Natsu asked with a smile.

"Both!"

"Yeah, Natsu, how did you do it?" Erza said as she tied Eric up with a rope. Eric was fussing about it being tied too tight and Erza hit him on the head.

"I don't really know, but I did hear Lucy calling my name, just very softly, and when I woke up, I saw that that guy over there," Natsu glared at him, "was leaning – I mean going to bite her, so I just punched him. Reflex action, I guess…?"

Lucy slowly sat down on the grass and began to cry.

"O-oi, why are you crying? Did I do something wrong?" Natsu asked nervously. Seeing her cry always made his chest hurt a little, this time it's no exception.

"I'm crying because I'm relieved, you idiot!" She sobbed. "I thought we were all going to die!"

"C'mon, Lucy, we're not, we're still right here, so stop crying, okay?" Sapphire said gently.

"But…but…" She said in hiccups. Suddenly, she yelled and grabbed her head. "N-not again…"

Charle quickly took out the medicine and gave it to Natsu, who immediately took out a spoon and scooped out a spoonful of the gooey medicine. "Here."

Despite she didn't like it she'd do anything to make this horrible head ache stop. A few minutes later, she seemed to be in less pain and sat up.

"Thanks a lot…"

"No problem." Natsu said and ate one spoonful himself. "Agh, my jaw is hurting again."

"What was that?" Eric asked. Everyone turned at him and eyed him suspiciously. "Hey, I'm just curious, besides, I can't do anything tied up like this. By the way, what kind of rope is this? It's as sturdy as hell, even I can't break it."

"It's a rope reinforced with magic, so it's ten times stronger than ordinary rope. And, what happened a while ago was none of your business." Sapphire spitted at him.

"No, I didn't mean that. I meant that medicine. 'Course I know what's happening to her. Any creature could sense that heavy aura from her miles away, and that pink-haired dude, you definitely got beaten up by Leviathan, huh?"

"You know him?" Gray asked in surprise.

"Yup, met him a long while ago, we actually became friends and he told me some of their secrets. Now, can you tell me about that medicine?"

"Why would you want to know anyway, blood sucker?" Charle asked coldly.

"Well, there aren't supposed to be a cure for that kind of curse," he nodded at Lucy, "but that medicine there seemed to suppress the pain. What kind of medicine can do that? It's pretty amazing."

"Why should we tell you? You just tried to suck Lucy's blood. And you might even spill this secret to those 'devils'." Sapphire added emphasis on the word "devil". Not entirely false, if you know what I mean.

Eric snorted. "Spill those secrets to them? Why would I when I can use it for myself? That way, I won't be afraid of them anymore. And I'm pretty sure you'd kill me in many ways possible if I really told them." His gaze wavered on Erza for a while before looking somewhere else.

"You make it sound like you're gonna join us." Gray said suspiciously.

"Well, I do plan to, since there's nothing as exciting as this that happened in the past few years."

"You also make it sound like we're gonna accept your offer."

"I have confidence in myself." He smirked. "I have very powerful senses, but I guess you don't need that since you have a dragon and a few dragon-slayers; I can tell you about this place, but you don't need that either; so, what I'm going to offer is my authority, what I know about Lucifer and his gang, don't look at me like that, we were pretty close friends back then, and my special skills and combat abilities."

"I don't get it." Natsu said bluntly.

"*sigh* What I mean is, I can let you guys pass through places where they don't let normal people pass through, tell you information about Lucifer and his plans, and, I have special abilities that I can offer to help you. For example, I'm immune to poison in general, I can hypnotize and brainwash, as most of you has experienced, I have regenerating and healing abilities which can cure some diseases that the little girl may not be able to cure, no offense there," he nodded at Wendy, who nodded back, not offended at all, "and I can help you people store things that you may need later but currently won't be using, and much, much more."

"So you have a personal storage, something like that?"

"Yup."

"Cool."

"But," Erza said sternly, "how will we know that you won't do the same trick on us again? Or maybe you'll tell our whereabouts and plans to Lucifer instead? There will be many reasons and chances you'd betray us, and I'm not a person who likes to take chances. Sure, your abilities and skills sounds tempting, but, we, _I_, still have to consider the safety of my teammates."

"I suppose you're right." Eric shrugged. "But there is one way to make me swear loyalty to someone."

All of them turned their gaze towards him. If he really did swore loyalty to them, then that means he won't betray them in any way, right?

"Really? Tell me how it works and I'll consider it." Erza said.

"Well, it's really simple, but I can only swear loyalty towards one person."

"Then…how about Lucy?"

"Huh? Me?" Lucy was surprised that Erza suggested her instead of herself. "Why?"

"Because, you have the strongest mind here. You weren't brainwashed, remember? So I think it's best if you could be his master instead."

"I agree." Sapphire and Gray said together. Wendy smiled and Charle didn't say anything at all. Happy said a short "aye!", but Natsu just stared at her, not saying anything.

"Suit yourself; it doesn't matter to me anyways. Now, are you ready?" Eric shrugged and asked.

Lucy thought for a moment and she nodded. Then, Eric told her to raise her hand and he made a cut on her palm. Natsu at first wanted to punch him again but was stopped by Erza. Eric also cut his hand and let the blood flow out. He took Lucy's hand and held it tight, no gap between their hands at all, and he began to chant. He spit out a chain of words in a foreign language none of them has ever heard and white light began to surround Eric and Lucy. Lucy didn't feel uncomfortable, just a bit weird. The tingling sensation on her palm made her want to scratch it so badly, but Eric held her hand so tight as if he was going to die if he didn't, and somehow her body was paralyzed and she couldn't move at all.

His chanting stopped and the light slowly faded, until nothing else was seen, as if nothing happened. Eric then let go of her hand and Lucy pulled it away, wanting to check the wound but surprisingly, she didn't find any.

"Now that we're tied together, I can share my healing abilities to you, and I will follow your every command, whether I like it or not. Oh, and this bond can only be broken through death. If either one of us dies, the bond will break and the other one will be free, though you'll experience a few chest pains for the first few days, but it'll fade." Eric explained. "Anyway, now that I've sworn my loyalty, can I know what's that medicine called?"

"Why are you so curious? It's a medicine made by Grandine, the sky dragon, but it only suppresses the pain for a while, it'll eventually come back."

Eric looked disappointed. "That's all? It's not a super medicine that can cure any disease or curse?"

"Nope. Why do you seem so disappointed?"

"Well, if that medicine really could cure the curse by Lucifer himself, then I wouldn't be so fidgety around him anymore."

"Wait, you know him?"

"Yeah," Eric said a matter-of-factly, "I'm a creature of the dark, and he's the one in charge of us…monsters, as most people call us, not that I can't say they're wrong. We never face humans head on, and we only appear in front of them to feed, not any time we want, since this is what Lucifer ordered."

"So, you guys can see him whenever you want?" Erza asked. She had to squeeze out every information she can get about Lucifer, typical Erza, wanting to know everything about the enemy they're about to face in the near future.

"Not really, we also need to tell them in advance, and besides, I'm sort of the leader right now of my race, so it's kinda natural for me to attend every meeting he holds, not that I like to go, anyway."

They all stared at him in shock. He's the leader? If he was, then how come he's so weak?

Eric noticed their stares and instantly got the message. "Hey, I can't fight right now since it's been months since I last ate! Humans and animals rarely come here anymore, so I can't catch any prey!"

"Why don't you walk out the forest and hunt?"

"Because outside the forest is the other race's area and we had a contract that we can't hunt in other's area without permission, and the leader of those damn wolves isn't there, it's been months, almost a year, since I last heard of him."

"Wolves?"

"Those Werewolves?"

"Oh, no, not them. Werewolves are just mere shape shifting humans. The wolves I was talking about are real wolves, just a few times bigger than the average kind. They can also change to human form, but they rarely do it, and they're immune to silver bullets or whatever shit those rumors said, but I'm pretty sure they have a weakness, and they can also speak, but they have they're own language and they only talk to each other in that language, otherwise, plain English."

"I see." Sapphire said. "I've never heard of them before, though."

"Of course you wouldn't. You dragons always seclude yourselves in deep mountains. I'd be surprised if you knew about them." Eric snorted, but his tone isn't insulting, and Sapphire seemed to acknowledge that, so she just nodded.

"So, now that we're done here, we still need to find those two flowers…"

"You don't mean Black Luna and Cave Dwellers, do you?"

Sapphire was surprised. "You know of those two flowers?"

"Yeah, since you said that Lucy has a curse on her, I bet that you guys are finding herbs exceptional healing attributes, and those two flowers are the two of the three best in this forest."

They stared at him in awe again. Great, so not only does this vampire know the great Lucifer, he also has exceptional analytical skills, too? Just the person they need in the team.

"You don't happen to have them, do you?"

"I do have them, and I have lots of them, in my place." They looked at him with the words 'can we have them?' clearly written in they're faces. "But, I can't bring you there since I'm too weak. I need to drink."

He did look tired, and he could barely stand without leaning on something. "What do you need?"

"Blood, of course, I'm a vampire, the thing is, there are no prey here except for you guys. And since I'm already tied to a human, I can only drink his or her blood. Other's blood will just make feel worse. But I can last for about a month if I drink my master's blood. Depends on the amount, though."

They fell silent, and Lucy's face turned ash white. _Lucy, you have to do it. For the sake of curing the curse._

_But I'm scared. What if it hurts?_ She replied to Sapphire.

_Don't worry, it'll only feel like a small prick the first time, and you'll eventually get used to it._ A new voice entered her mind and Sapphire heard it, too.

_Eric?_ They both said silently together.

_Heh, yup, we're tied together by a contract, so it's kinda natural for me to enter your head._ Eric decided to not tell them that by simply wishing for him not to enter, he wouldn't be able to, since he's the servant and she's the master, but he quickly found out he can't enter her head again. _Damn she's bright._ He cursed in his head.

_I knew it._ Lucy grinned. _But do I really need to do it?_

_Yes. You guys are already tied together, even if we didn't go to his house for the herbs, you still need to give him blood for him follow us. From what I've read before, his kind has their own wings, and I don't think I can carry any more people._

_You got a point._ Lucy sighed in defeat. "Alright, I'll allow you to drink my blood, and will let you do so only if you are at the verge of collapsing, like right now, or if you need strength to fight, but otherwise, no blood."

"Finally! I'm starving! And, yes, my master." He smirked, showing his fangs.

"What? I won't allow that!" Natsu shouted.

"C'mon Natsu-san, we all feel bad about this, but we've got no choice! You don't wanna carry him all the way to the town, do you?" Wendy persuaded.

Natsu thought about that for a while and gave out a disgusted face. "No way would I want to carry him. Fine, but you can't hurt her or anything, ok? Or else it wouldn't be only a punch." He glared at Eric and he just chuckled.

"You're so over protective." Lucy rolled her eyes and walked to Eric.

To everyone's surprise, Eric placed his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him, his lips a few inches from her neck. The air he was breathing out was hot against Lucy's skin, and she could feel blood rushing to her face.

"Ah, good thing it all rushed upwards now." Eric whispered in her ear.

"Hey, you can drink blood from her arm or whatever, why there!" Natsu asked. He glared at him again.

"But the blood from the neck tastes better, warmer." He smiled, and before anyone could say a thing, he bit down on her neck.

"Ack!" Lucy shouted a bit, since she wasn't ready yet, and the pain shot up from her neck. But after a while it faded, only the feeling of her blood being sucked away lingered, and surprisingly it felt good. "Mmm…" She let out a small moan and quickly covered her mouth.

They're position really made everyone blush, and Wendy covered her eyes. "I'm still a bit young for this." She murmured.

No one was saying a thing, but Natsu burned with jealousy and anger. But he can't punch him. He sucked her blood so he won't burden, so he can give them the fucking herbs and help. Such was said repeatedly in his mind.

A few minutes after, Eric released her from his arm and he licked her neck.

"!" Lucy backed away from him, but she noticed that the wounds were gone.

"Don't worry; I licked it so the wounds will close." Eric said as he wiped his mouth. He looked much stronger now, and color returned to his cheeks. He stood at his full height, and he was a tad bit taller than Gray and Natsu. His black hair was shining under the dim sunlight and his eyes glowed, giving him this mysterious and at the same time dangerous feeling. The kind of guy most girls would die for.

"Now that we're done, why don't we get going?" He smiled devilishly.

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><p><strong>THERE :D <strong>Hope you guys like it. I made this chapter longer than the others, and I must say, it's quite a tiring job.

Sorry it took so long, although last term's exams are over, I still have this term to worry about :( Plus my violin recital is near and I haven't memorized the friggin' piece yet, so yeah, another damn break.

Worrying about my grades+studying for exams and quizzes+practicing violin everyday+trying to write a new chapter to please my dear readers=**NO SLEEP** (true story)

And about my other story, Stellar Goddess, I'll be updating it soon, too, and then I'll be on another break. Be sure to read it! c:

Special thanks to those who reviewed and the ones who added this story to their favorites and alerts, whether you reviewed or not, **THANK YOU** 3


	11. Chapter 11 Vampire 101

I am so terribly sorry for this REALLYYYYY late chapter

I know I told you guys that I might update this before April, and now look what month it is

And I know that everything I say will just be excuses, so, why don't we just skip to the story?

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><p>Disclaimer: I don't own FT<p>

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><p>Chapter 11 Vampire 101<p>

"So," Gray asked Eric, "If you're a vampire, can you tell us about your weaknesses?"

"Hmm, I've always wanted to ask you the same thing." Erza said, walking beside Gray.

The three of them were walking in front, with Eric leading the way to his house. Wendy was behind them with Charle and Happy, while Natsu and Lucy walked behind, Lucy's arm draped on Natsu's neck, since she was a bit weak from the "blood-sucking session" a while ago.

"Well, for starters, most of the things you've heard about, like sunlight, garlic, holy water, and cross? Those are all bull crap. I wonder who started the stupid idea that we vampires can be killed with those."

"How about a stake through the heart?"

"Under normal circumstances, I bet no living creature would be able to survive that, obviously."

"So you're saying that vampires are pretty much like humans, except for the inevitable blood thirst?"

"Pretty much; and you can't kill us by not feeding us blood. Sure, we'll weaken, but we can still eat other stuff to sustain ourselves. Just like telling a carnivore to eat plants."

"Hmm…" Erza paused. "Are there any other things we should know about defeating a vampire?"

"I think there is, but I'm not sure…wait, why are you asking these?" Eric cast a suspicious glance at Erza and Gray.

"Well, we can't be too sure." Gray said and Erza nodded.

"Sigh, never mind, we're almost there, by the way, a couple more minutes."

And they all walked in silence while following Eric. Soon enough, they were in front of small opening that seems to lead into a cave.

"You live in here?"

"Yup, got any problems with that? Vampires don't like light that much, even though it's harmless, so that's why we mostly live in caves like these. What? You expected a castle? Or maybe a huge house in the woods? I'm no sparkling fairy, just so you know."

"We didn't say that…" Erza started.

"But it's clearly written in your faces." Eric said, but he didn't seem to be offended. "Well, home sweet home."

They entered the dark tunnel, but except for Eric and the Exceeds, the rest had a problem going in. Eric noticed it and snapped his fingers. Orbs of light suddenly appeared and flew around them, illuminating almost every corner.

"Wow, is this one of your powers, too?"

"Yeah, pretty ironic, don't you think?" Eric laughed and led them farther inside. After the tunnel they were in a spacious clearing, still inside the cave.

"Is…is this cave manmade?"

"Not really sure if you could call it "man" made, since it was vampires who built it, but I get your point, of course. Yup, it's not natural; we were the ones who built it." Eric pointed to a few chairs and sofas in the middle. "You guys could sit there and rest while I suggest Lucy lie down on the bed for a moment, she looks like she needs it. I'll just go to the storage room to look for the herbs."

They sat down on the sofas and Natsu carefully helped Lucy lie down on Eric's bed and pulled a chair beside it. The cave was not as creepy as they thought it would be, and the small, glowing orbs flying around them actually gave it a more calming atmosphere. Not many furniture were around, only a table, some sofas and chairs, a king sized bed which was surprisingly clean and dustless, a few bookshelves all filled with books here and there, and some unidentifiable plants on the ground. No, it didn't look like how it would be in their imagination.

Eric went in a small door a few feet beside from where they came in and came back out after a few quick seconds with two kinds of plants in his hands. One was entirely black and was giving off a small chime and looked like a daisy while the other has tiny white spots on it and if you don't pay attention, you could mistake it for a rose.

"Here you are; good thing I saved them up until now. You should thank me for giving them to you guys for free. These cost a lot in the black market, and that's the only place where people sell it." He said as he stuffed it inside their knapsack. "So, how's Lucy doing?"

"Asleep." Natsu grumbled.

"Well, we should all wait for her to wake up and then we can go to town to find a decent inn. I'm pretty sure you don't want to sleep here for a night."

"Eric, tell us more about your kind." Wendy said. She was reading the titles of the books on the shelves. Many of it was about vampires.

"Yes, we want to know more. And don't worry; it's more on satisfying our curiosity than actually killing one." Erza assured.

After suspiciously glancing at them, he sighed. "Fine, as you all know, vampires are creature who drink blood, and eat nothing else if not necessary."

All of them nodded.

"And you already know that most of the things you heard about us are all superstitious bull shit, that we don't like light but otherwise is unharmed by it, and we also have powers not many has."

"You might want to elaborate what powers you have."

"Hmm…well, I was trained since young to fight, so I can give a helping hand when you need it." Natsu snorted and Eric ignored him. "I can give you information about Lucifer and his gang, but it's only limited to what I know; I can heal people around me when the little girl is too tired; I have something you can call a portable storage with an unlimited capacity, which I will show you later; I have a knack at persuading people, and it seems to work on most of the species; and I have some few magic tricks up my sleeve." Eric smiled.

"A few magic tricks? Mind if you show us?"

"I'm afraid it will have to wait, don't you just love surprises?"

Erza stared at him for a moment. "Hmm…there's no way we'd force you to show us, isn't there?"

"Nope."

"Thought so, anyway, what else?"

"That's basically all you need to know about vampires."

"But what about their weaknesses? I mean, what if we encounter a blood-thirsty vampire and you're not there? We at least need some means to defend ourselves."

"Hmm…it _is_ possible…let's see here." Eric lowered his head to think. "Ah, we may be immune to light, but we can't stand too much heat."

"That's all?"

"That's all I can remember, wasn't really a good student back then." Eric laughed sheepishly.

"But you're a vampire yourself; don't you know what weaknesses you have?"

"Hey, your human, but do you know every exact disease that might threaten your life? No. If you really want to find out, though, maybe we could search somewhere else, like the library, for example. There's one at the town nearby, we could go there once Lucy wakes up."

"Fine, let's wait till she wakes up…" Erza sighed.

"There's no need to wait, I'm up." Lucy sat up from the bed and yawned. "Did I sleep for long?"

"No, just a few minutes."

"Huh, no wonder, I still feel tired, but otherwise, I'm alright. What were you guys talking about?"

"Some stuff about vampires and their weaknesses." Gray shrugged.

"Umm…Eric," Wendy said. "I'm still a bit curious about the stuff you did with Lucy-san a while ago."

"I guess I still owe you guys some explanation." Eric laughed. "The thing we did ago? It was something like a short ritual, fusing our blood together so that it will be unbreakable."

"Fused blood? Does that mean Lucy is now a half-vampire?" Gray's eyes widened.

"Oh, no, it will take a lot more than a few drops of blood to change her, so no worries there. As I was saying, our blood was mixed, and since vampires can only be servants to other species, I am now Lucy's servant, and will swear my loyalty to her and her friends. You would also notice a symbol that will appear a few moments on Lucy's body, though where, it depends."

"That would be here." Lucy lifted her shirt to show her stomach and at the lower left there was a symbol that looked like a bat with fangs. "I noticed some tingling before I fell asleep."

"In my opinion, it looks pretty nice."

"Thank you, Erza."

Eric leaned in to examine it. "Hmm, a bright crimson, meaning that our bond is quite strong, stronger than the others, well, not surprising, since the blood more than the usual drops, but not in a dangerous amount, and probably because I'm a high-level vampire."

"Does the amount of blood and kind of vampire affect the bond?"

"Yes, an extra drop might change it entirely."

"But how do we know that it's true and it's not just some trick you pulled up?"

"It's true." Sapphire said. "A while ago I was talking to Lucy after the 'ritual'; he just popped into our conversation, though Lucy was able to block him out almost immediately."

"Besides," Eric yawned, "if you were suspicious, you wouldn't let me do it in the first place. Now can we go to town?"

"I still have many questions, but, sure, it can wait." Erza shrugged and stood up. "Now let's hurry before it gets dark."

"Yeah, you wouldn't wanna stay in these parts of the woods after dark, lots of predators." Eric said. "Stick with me and we'll get to town in no time, this forest is practically my home! Which is shared with many others, of course, but that doesn't matter. Let's go?"

"Let's go." Lucy nodded and got out of the bed, but with Natsu standing close beside her. She noticed that he hasn't said a word after she woke up and she looked at him. His face was calm, with some hints of worry, but she could see flame blazing in his eyes. She sighed. He was still a bit mad at something from a while ago, but she isn't sure which one. Was it because she agreed to have a pact with Eric, or was it because she let him suck her blood? Or maybe because he was still mad at Eric for almost kidnapping an eating them? Her head was aching every time she attempted to think, so she stopped thinking and decided she'd ask Natsu about it later after they got to town.

After staying in a dark cave with little light, they all had to shield their eyes from the blinding sunlight outside, even though it was already setting.

"If we hurry, we might get their before the sun completely sets." Eric told them. He started to go through the woods and the others quickly followed.

~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~

They stumbled into town just when the sun was almost covered up by the horizon and the first thing they did was to find an inn. Fortunately, there was one nearby, and it was pretty much empty, so they rented a room for each.

Natsu's P.O.V.

A knock on the door distracted me from what I was doing and I immediately went to open it. I was surprised to see Lucy standing there and I let her in.

"Where's Happy?" She asked me, taking a good look of my room, though I'm sure both of our rooms looked the same.

"Oh, he's at Wendy's room, probably chatting with Charle. I wonder what's gotten into him lately. Right after he met Charle, he started to act all weird."

She sat on a chair and giggled, like I said something funny.

"What' wrong?"

"It's nothing, it's just…never mind, I don't think you'll understand it."

I wasn't mad. I already accepted that I was a bit slow compared to my team mates, but that wasn't why I wasn't mad. It's because of her, I guess.

"C'mon, tell me!"

"Hmm…alright, its love, silly, but I don't expect you to know how it feels to love someone of the opposite sex."

I didn't reply, but she didn't seem to notice it. She was staring quietly at the burning fireplace.

"By the way, why are you here?" I asked her.

"Oh, right! I wanted to ask you something…"

"Spit it out."

"A while ago, at the cave, when we were about to go out…you seemed mad about something. Plus, you were quiet the whole time after I woke from my short nap. Is something bothering you?"

Her question caught me off guard. I thought I hid it pretty nicely, since Happy didn't notice a thing. Usually it's Happy who was the first one to notice these kinds of things.

"I…uh…"

"It's okay, you can tell me." She stared at me with her beautiful brown eyes and my throat felt dry. I can't tell her that I'm mad because I saw Eric leaning on her while he was about to suck her blood while the others were paralyzed, and when he was sucking her blood, and when he moved closer to her and almost touched her to 'examine' the symbol on her stomach, can I? I don't know why, I want to answer her question honestly, but somehow it wouldn't get out of my mouth, like if I said it, something bad will happen to me.

"Natsu…?" she tilted her head, and I can't say how cute she is when she does that.

"I…um…was mad because…my jaw started hurting again! Yeah, that's why." I tried to smile at her.

"Really? Then why didn't you take the medicine? It was in the bag and you could've just got it."

"It wasn't hurting that much and besides, it tastes weird." I gave off a disgusted face.

She laughed. "True, I know how you feel. But, you're lying. You're not mad because of your jaw."

"Uh…?" I gulped. How could she have known that?

"Well, I guess it's no use if you don't want to tell me." She sighed, her shoulders slumped. Then, as if she realized something, she jumped out of the chair and went to the door.

"Um…sorry, I forgot something. Well, I'll see you tomorrow! Night!"

After she went out and I heard her door slam shut, I lied down on the bed and let out a sigh. What is going on with me? Is it true that I want Lucy to be my girlfriend, just like what Erza said a few nights ago? Damn, my head hurts every time I think.

Normal P.O.V.

Lucy went out of Natsu's room and saw Erza and Gray standing outside, about to eavesdrop on them. She sighed and went back to her room, leaving the dumbfounded Gray and Erza.

"Hey, what do you think happened in there?" Gray asked Erza.

"I don't know; she left in a hurry. If Natsu attempted to molest her I'll…" Erza said through gritted teeth

"Don't worry, if he did, I'm sure we would've heard her scream. Maybe they talked about something?"

"Perhaps, but Lucy didn't look sad or anything, so Natsu didn't upset her…"

Just when they were discussing, Natsu's door opened.

"Hey, guys, what are you doing outside?"

"Oh, nothing. What about you?"

"I'm going down stairs to find something to eat. I'm a bit confused right now." He said bye ad proceeded downstairs.

Both of them stared at him go down the stairs.

"Did he say 'confused'?"

"He sure did. Agh, this is killing me! I want to know what happened!" Gray pulled his hair.

"Never mind, I guess we'll have to ask them tomorrow." Erza sighed.

"Fine, but that will be the first thing I'll do in the morning."

Meanwhile, Lucy was pacing around her room biting her fingernails.

"Oh my gosh! I just entered his room without anybody there! It was just me and him! A girl and a boy, all alone in one room! Wait, what am I thinking? There was nothing going on! It was just me who had bad thoughts! Bad Lucy!" She sat on her bed for a while, and then proceeded to lie down. "What's going on with me? It wasn't this bad before…never mind all of it, I'll just sleep and forget all of it tomorrow, if I can sleep, that is…"

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><p>I know, I know, this chapter is shorter than my older ones<p>

Again, I'm sorry :[

And in this chapter I might dissapoint some of you

Not to mention that I didn't proof read it much and I rushed it in the middle of the night

I'm a bit in a tight spot right now, sorry

And, some of you might notice the change of my pen name

Had to change it for some personal reasons.

Some of you might wonder why this is so late, and I'll tell you one of the reasons.

My USB got fucked up again, so yeah, another chapter start from scratch, I have learned the lesson the hard way.


	12. Chapter 12 Final Herb, Next Nakama

Here's the 12th chapter! :D

I just realized right now that it's so long ._. probably longer than my previous chapters

Well, let's hope that the future chapters would be this long, too (laugh)

Anyway, I'm really sorry for the previous chapter. I know it's short and it's more on ramblings and random stuff than the main story line. For that I sincerely apologize. (_ _)

There's just too many things lately that have been grabbing my attention, whether I like it or not, like Skyrim, Diablo 3, summer vacation (beaches, traveling, stuff), and many other things, and I blame myself for getting distracted all the time.

So I'm thinking that I can make it up to you all by giving you this really long (in my opinion) chapter, enjoy!

Also, can you guys give more reviews? I rarely get reviews anymore and it feels like nobody likes my fanfic. Even a simple "Hey, great job on the story" will be nice. I'm sorry I need constant reassurance. (teary-eyed)

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><p>Disclaimer: I don't own FT, and for personal reasons, I don't think I'll be adding dislaimers every start of the chapter from now on. (Simply just me being lazy)<p>

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><p>Chapter 12 Final Herb, Next Nakama<p>

Lucy woke up the next day feeling tired as ever from her slight insomnia last night. She took a quick shower in cold water to wake herself up and decided to order some coffee later.

After changing into her clothes, she went out of her room to go to the dining hall below and bumped into Natsu who was also coming out of his room.

"Mornin' Luce." He yawned, still sleepy.

"G-good morning, Natsu." Lucy averted her eyes from him. "Um, what are you doing this early in the morning?"

"Woke up and couldn't go back to sleep again, you?"

"Uh, I was just about to go down and have some breakfast…"

"Really? Great, I was planning on having some, too." He smiled at her which made her heart skip a beat.

_Oh no, if we go down together, that means we'll have to sit together alone!_

"Where's Happy?"

"Still sleeping." He pointed at his room. "He couldn't survive without at least ten hours of snoozing."

"Well, he _is_ a cat…Anyway, um, why don't you go down first? I forgot something inside." Lucy went inside her room again and slammed the door before Natsu could even say anything.

Natsu just stood outside scratching his head, confused again. He shrugged and went down alone.

A few minutes later, Lucy heard another door open and peeked out to see Erza come out of her room.

"Erza! Good morning." Lucy went out and greeted Erza, who was startled at her.

"Good morning, Lucy. May I ask why you are so happy this morning?"

"Oh, it's nothing." Lucy waved her hand. "Are you going down to eat breakfast? Why don't we go down together? Natsu's already downstairs."

Erza eyes widened in confusion. "How did you know he's already downstairs?"

"Uh, well, I was supposed to go down a while ago and I bumped into him, but I forgot something in my room so I let him go down first, ahahaha. C'mon, let's hurry or else all the good stuff might be finished by Natsu, you know his appetite."

Lucy was practically pulling Erza down the stairs when Gray and Eric also came out of their own rooms.

"Hey, what's the hurry, Lucy?" Gray asked.

"Yeah, it's still early in the morning, you know, I'm sure nobody's down there yet."

"Well, Natsu is, and if we don't hurry, he might finish all the food or burn this place down, or both."

"Well, he does have a tendency to do those…"

"That's why, now hurry up."

The four of them came down the stairs and found the dining hall indeed empty except for Natsu, who was unusually sitting down at the table and doing nothing.

"Hey, Luce, wow, and Erza and Gray….and you." Natsu's eyes narrowed into slits upon seeing Eric enter the room with them. "I thought I'd wait for you, since eating together with people is more fun than eating alone. By the way, I haven't ordered any food yet, you guys want something?" He raised the menu at them.

Erza sat down and Lucy immediately sat beside her, which surprised Gray and Erza. It was Gray who usually sat beside her and Lucy always sat together with Natsu, though he didn't seem to realize it now, but Gray just shrugged and Eric sat at Lucy's left, and Natsu glared at him, which he just shrugged off with a smile.

"I'll just get some coffee and some toast; I'm not that hungry anyway." Lucy said.

"Well, this will be the first time I'll be seeing you drink coffee." Erza said as her eyes skimmed through the menu.

"Yeah, it probably is my first time drinking it, too." Lucy laughed bitterly. "I don't really like bitter stuff."

As they were still choosing from the menu, Wendy appeared, together with the two cats and Sapphire.

"Sup." Sapphire greeted them as she sat at the end of the table.

"Good morning, mina-san." She sat beside Natsu and the Exceeds sat on the table.

"Good morning, Wendy." Lucy smiled. "Did you have a good sleep last night?"

"You bet! It was actually the first time I've slept like a log since we came here!"

"Good for you." Lucy smiled at the girl.

"Why? Didn't you? I can help…" Wendy noticed the light eye bags under Lucy's eyes.

"Not so much, but it's alright. I can't always rely on magic to fix everything, right?" Lucy shook her head. "Anyway, I'll just have a cup of coffee and I'll be as good as new!"

After they have ordered what they wanted (it took a while since Natsu was whining abut them not having any fire chicken or something like that), they started talking about their plans for the day.

"No comment. How you guys want to spend the day is up to you." Sapphire shrugged.

"I'll say we go to the library first." Eric suggested. "We might learn more stuff about Lucifer and the others. I get that you have had some rough time with them."

"You have a point, but what about the other herb that Grandine needs to cure Lucy?" Wendy pointed out.

"Not to mention that we still need to save our Nakama." Natsu crossed his arms.

"All of them are important, but maybe we should go to the library first, and then after that, we search for the herb, our Nakama can wait." Gray said.

"What do you mean our Nakama can wait? They're important, too!" Natsu almost slammed the table.

"We know that, but they aren't some ten year old child that needs someone to care after them. We go to the library first, we might have a chance at knowing some things about Lucifer, and then we search for the herb. Once we get it, we return to Grandine for her to make the final preparations, and after we cure Lucy, we search for our Nakama, acceptable?" Erza said in a stern voice, and how could anyone object with her?

"Fine, but once after Lucy's cured." Natsu murmured.

While they were eating, Gray suddenly remembered something from last night.

"Hey, Lucy…um, might I ask something…?"

Lucy looked puzzled. "Huh? Yeah, sure…"

"Last night, why did you go out of Natsu's room so urgently? Did something happen?" As he asked her, it took every inch of his strength to not smirk and Lucy almost spit out her coffee.

"Really? Lucy went into our room?" Happy said while munching on his fish, "I was over at Wendy's, so I don't know. When I came back, Natsu was downstairs eating and the room was empty."

"Oh, so you and Natsu were 'alone' in his room. What might've happened?" Eric asked in a surprised tone, though it was clearly obvious he's toying with Lucy, and he stressed the word "alone", which made Lucy grit her teeth in annoyance.

"We were doing nothing, alright! I just went there to talk to him about something, and Happy was just coincidentally not there!"

"Then what were you guys talking about?"

"Don't tell them." Natsu said and everyone looked at him.

"Why not?" Gray punched his arm lightly. "Is it a secret that you can't tell anyone but Lucy?"

"What if it is?"

"Then that will just make things sound more complicated." Gray shrugged. "Plus, what kind of secret can you tell Lucy, but not us? My imagination's starting to go wild now."

"Just shut up and eat your breakfast." Natsu growled and showed his fangs. Gray was about to pounce on him but Sapphire glared at him and motioned for him to stop.

He sat back down and sighed, silently deciding that if he doesn't wanna say, then he won't ask anymore, though he really, _really_ wanted to know the answer.

After they finished they're breakfast, they went out to search for the library. It wasn't so hard to find, since it had a huge sign that says "CITY LIBRARY" and was located near the town center.

"What's this town called?"

"If I remember correctly, I think it's called 'Arden', or was it 'Kroger'…? All I know is that we're south east of the forest."

"Then it's Arden." Wendy said as she took a look of the map.

"Ok, enough with the geography lessons, let's hurry and find some information, we might not be so lucky in other towns." Erza rushed them inside.

Lucy, Erza, Gray, Wendy, Charle, and Sapphire went through the bookshelves while Natsu tried to find a comfortable chair and sit tight, as Erza has strictly ordered, but, knowing he's Natsu, he just couldn't "sit tight", so Erza had to give him the "look" to tell him she's serious.

Eric on the other hand, just took a random book from the shelf and began reading. But when Lucy ordered to him to search too, he sighed and put down the book.

"Too bad, and I was getting to the exciting part…"

"What exciting part? You've only read for less than 3 minutes." Lucy rolled her eyes. "Now hurry up and help us find something useful."

They searched for a few moments, all most turning the whole building upside down, when Lucy thought she saw a book that says "The Seven Princes of Hell". She pulled it out and saw that the cover was filled with symbols and drawings and it seemed to be like a handwritten book, which is extremely rare in this time.

"Hmm…interesting…" She murmured and found a desk and chair to read it.

_The seven princes of hell, as the name suggests, are the highest demons in hell. They are also the equivalent of the seven archangels of heaven. Each prince corresponds to one deadly sin. A definitive list is hard to find, since there are various different religious sects and traditions that offers different names. However, often considered as the authoritative list, the demons princes according to Peter Binsfeld, are as follows:_

_Lucifer – Pride_

_Satan – Wrath_

_Leviathan – Envy_

_Mammon – Greed_

_Asmodeus – Lust_

_Beelzebub – Gluttony_

_Belphegor – Sloth_

_Lucifer and Satan, as are often confused to be the same entity, is different individuals. Satan is the highest in authority and therefore leads the other six. Lucifer is his second in command and takes Satan's place during his absence._

_The others do not dare anger Satan as his wrath is the most terrifying power. It can be compared to the fire of hell, which is said to burn everything, including the demons themselves._

_Lucifer takes pride in everything, which figures, since his corresponding sin is pride. It can be his both his strength and weakness. It is also said that once he takes an interest in something or someone, it will take more than time before it dies out._

_Leviathan is one the most violent of the seven, often the one seen taking action first. His enormous envy towards anything often creates arguments amongst the group. He can also transform into a giant sea monster, in which there are many versions, the most popular one being the "Kraken"._

_Mammon, also meaning "possession" or "wealth" in Hebrew, can always be seen together with Leviathan. His greed and Leviathan's envy are probably the most compatible of the seven sins. Wherever there is greed, there is envy._

_Asmodeus is the loner of the group and is always out with women. Though he prefers to work alone, he _always_ gets the job done, and he always gets the women. One hypothesis of his anti-social behavior is that he doesn't like to work with the other princes because they are male._

_Beelzebub's sin is gluttony and you can immediately identify him because of his body size. He is incredibly great friends with Belphegor. He prefers food more than anything._

_Belphegor always moves in a slow and sluggish manner. He doesn't like work and prefers to relax. He is also the slowest in the group in both physical and mental terms, but ironically, he has the most physical strength._

"Hey, guys? You won't believe what I found…" Lucy called the others and they surrounded her.

"Wow, this book is extremely detailed about the demons. Who wrote it?" Erza asked.

Lucy turned the book around but saw no author. She flipped it to the first and last pages but saw nothing.

"Strange, it looks more like a log or diary on the observation of the seven princes, not an actual reference book. And it has no author written on it either, anonymous?"

"Impossible." Gray snorted. "Someone has to write it. It's even handwritten! Maybe we can ask the librarian?"

"Good idea."

They all went to the reception desk and asked information about the book, but the librarians all looked dumbfounded when they showed them the cover. They tried searching for it in the archives but found nothing in the records. It seemed like this book just appeared right now.

"I'm terribly sorry," one of the older librarians said, "I've worked here for almost thirty years and I've never heard of this book, much less seen it. But we cannot let you take it either. Since it was found here, I guess it's clear that it is library property."

"Oh, don't worry, we won't take it, we're thinking maybe we could just take a small copy of a page?" Lucy assured them and asked if they could create a copy of the page she read with all of the general information.

"Oh, that's fine. Give it to me and I'll make a copy instantly."

Lucy gave her that book that was open to the page she wanted copied and the librarian disappeared behind the doors that was beside the reception desk. A few moments after, the librarian came out with a piece of paper in her hands.

"Here you go."

"Thanks a lot." Lucy smiled gratefully at the old woman and they went back to search for more information about vampires, but they couldn't find anything else, so they left the library.

When they stepped outside, a small gust of wind blew the papers on the reception desk away and, during the small riot, the book disappeared into thin air.

~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~

"It certainly wasn't an easy task, but we still got the information we wanted, well, half of it, at least." Erza said as she squint her eyes against the sun. "Now, we go to the 'Devil's Valley'…"

"Wait, hold on, did you say Devil's Valley?" Eric interrupted.

"Uh, yeah, she did say Devil's Valley. What's wrong?" Lucy asked, and then she remembered something. "Oh, right, vampires can't stand heat…"

"Yes, you remembered, good." He nodded at Lucy. "So, I guess I can't accompany you guys there."

"Hmm…that's another problem. I don't think I trust you enough to leave you alone…" Erza glared at him.

"How about this? I'll go to Grandine's cave and I'll wait for you there?"

"What if Grandine attacks you?" Wendy asked.

"She won't. Dragon's have never been enemies with vampires. She'll just probably be surprised." Sapphire assured. "And I'll send her a message in advance. But, if we go back and you're not there, I'm pretty sure you know what'll happen, though I'm sure you won't do that since we have Lucy here." Sapphire explained and smirked at Eric. He rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Alright, alright, I won't."

"Good. Now, let's find a more secluded place so I can transform back. It's tiring to be in this form, too, you know, and I don't think I can last much longer."

Eric walked them to the south entrance and watched them leave before going to the north, where Grandine's cave is.

After walking far enough and made sure that nobody was around, Sapphire transformed back into her blue water dragon form. They watched in awe as blue light surrounded her body as she grew bigger and scalier and less human. Lucy had to admit, it's beautiful, from human to dragon. She realized that the human race is actually an ugly little bunch of rats compared to the intelligent, elegant, and peaceful race of the dragons.

_They say god has made the humans his masterpiece, created them in his liking, well, that may be false, I guess. The dragons are just so…majestic. They have power, beauty, intelligence and knowledge, and the side of nature all at the same time. What are we humans compared to them?_

After Sapphire has transformed into a dragon, she had to stretch first since it's been a while since she turned back into a dragon.

_Hey, Sapphire, I just realized something. I want to ask you…if there are the seven princes of hell in this world, is there a god? Or maybe angels? _Lucy asked.

Sapphire was surprised by her question._ That…is a good question. Is there a "god" that rules this world? And there are also angels that support and obey him? Sadly, I do not know. You see, even if this is different from your world, it still has it's similarities. Like different continents and countries, religion and government. Plus, do you really think that I, a dragon that normally secludes itself in the high mountains knows, or rather, cares, about how this world spins?_

_Okay, maybe you dragons _do_ like to be loners and stay in your caves, but at least try to look caring! This _is_ your world, after all!_

_Lucy, you are not a dragon, and therefore cannot understand how it is to be one. Dragons have long lives, as you can imagine, and many of us have already learned that humans are not what they seem to be anymore. You compare humans to us, and you see a rat and an elephant, but your race can create more damage than you can imagine. A single carrier rat can create a plague and wipe out half of the population, but elephants? But, don't be offended, I didn't say that all of the humans are bad. If we really thought so, we wouldn't be teaching some selected humans to learn dragon-slaying techniques, now do we?_

Lucy winced. It's true that humanity has its dark sides; that much she has observed through history books, and by watching drama shows.

*Sigh*_ You're right, I don't know how it is to be a dragon and how much treachery and lies you had to live through, but if all of you act this way, then nothing will happen. Anyway, we're getting farther and farther away from the topic now…_ Lucy sighed inwardly so that the others won't notice. She looked around and saw that the others were all sitting down and talking, or resting against the tree, nobody noticing her and Sapphire's conversation.

_We are, but it's no use if you ask me again, for I don't have any knowledge in this matter. Alright, why don't you call the others? I think I'm fine now._

Sapphire stood up and yawned, and at this point, she looked like a dog that just woke up from its sleep, a really _huge_ and _scaly_ dog.

Lucy called the others and she rode at the very front, behind her Erza, Wendy, and then Gray. Natsu didn't want to ride on her, so Happy had to carry him instead while Charle was perfectly fine to fly on her own.

Even thought it has only been a day since they rode on her, it felt like a while and surprisingly, Lucy missed it, well, only the flying part, not so much on the landing and take off, which still felt bumpy as ever.

Sapphire had to increase the altitude first though, said it was for in case a person from below spotted them; the higher the altitude, the smaller she looks, and the more she looks like a bird than an actual dragon.

After gaining enough height, she began to fly to the direction Lucy guessed was south. All she knew about the Devil's Valley was that it was extremely hot and it was somewhere at the far south.

_Not exactly 'far' south, it's not really that far, about a 10 minute ride from where we are right now._ Sapphire read her mind and said to her.

_Seriously? If it isn't that far, why can't we feel any heat?_

_Well, the same as Leona, too many mysteries that people want to uncover but can't, since they don't have the technology nor the ability to withstand the place._

_But we can…?_

_Hahahaha._ Sapphire chuckled. _You seem to forget that you are not people from this world._

_True… And what exactly is the difference?_

_How to explain…you look alike and can perform the same magical ability, but somehow, people from your world can withstand more magic than the people here. I've seen your abilities, I've also been to your world to train a dragon-slayer, and compare it here, you have far greater magical power than the people in this world._

_Huh…but, they also have something that's better than us? There must be._

_There is, technology. They can combine technology and magic and create far better things that have been invented in your world._

That reminded Lucy of the Edolas incident that happened not long before. Though that can't naturally use magic, their technology is way more superior to theirs. Here, the people have more success in creating something that conjoins both magic and technology and use it to its full extent, something that it considered impossible in both Earthland and Edolas.

_Interesting…_

_It is. Wait till I show you some of it after your problem is taken care of. You didn't see anything impressive yet, but wait till you get to the Capital._

_Great! We can also search for our friends at the same time!_

_Exactly._

Lucy let her imagination run wild in her head. What could there possibly be in the Capital? Machines and Magic joined together, just by hearing it created tingles inside of her, tickling her curiosity and interest.

They flew for about 10 minutes before they felt the heat. It was like nothing they've ever experienced before. The energy the sun was emitting was stronger and the heat was almost unbearable. Almost. Lucy felt like she was being roasted on an open fire and sweat was trickling down her face. It was like they were set on fire, literally set on fire.

The wind was still loud, so Lucy couldn't hear anything the others were saying, so she could only guess from the tone of their muffled voices, and she guessed that they, too, were experiencing the same hell as her.

The wind was also too hot to be able to see clearly. If the temperature were warmer, their eyeballs would probably be boiling by now. And the air they inhaled almost scorched their lungs. Lucy thought she inhaled sand.

_A little more longer, and then we'll land._ Sapphire said to everyone.

A few more hellish moments later, Sapphire started to descend onto what seemed like an endless desert. She landed on sand and everyone jumped down, but they all found out that it was a bad idea.

On the ground felt the same as in the air, no, it was better when they were flying. At least they had wind. Here on the ground, or more specifically, sand, there was no wind and their skin was red from the intense rays of the sun.

"I feel like pig being roasted over a fire…" Lucy mumbled.

"M-me, too." Wendy inhaled the air, but she soon coughed it out. The air was too hot.

"I think…I'm about to faint." Gray mumbled.

He was deathly pale and was wearing only boxers. He could've taken it off if it weren't for Erza's threat.

Erza also took off her metal armor and was seen only wearing a thin shirt and a pair of shorts. Seeing her changed, Lucy also proceeded to change into a sleeveless tank top and some really short shorts behind Sapphire who was still in dragon form and tied her hair into a pair of braids.

"I don't feel anything." Natsu said, Happy in his hands, panting heavily. "What's up, buddy? Are you tired?" He asked the cat.

"He just feels hot." Erza said. "What about you, Charle?"

The white cat was also panting, but not as heavily as Happy. "I'm fine."

"Sapphire, why aren't you still changing to human?" Lucy asked the dragon as she was tying her hair.

"I feel better this way. I also feel hot, but when changed to human, I'll be acting the same as you guys, and I don't want that. Besides, no human will be passing this way, ever. They won't even fly over here, so I'll be fine."

"Ok." Lucy shrugged. "Anyway, are you sure that the last plant we need is in this region?"

_If Grandine is sure, then I'm as sure as ever. I think I remember her saying it's in one of the oasis's. We'll just have to read the map and check out each location where there is an oasis._

"Great, there's one right to our southeast." Erza said as she read the map. "About a few kilometers."

"Ok, let's get going. The faster we find the plant and get out of this hellhole, the better." Lucy rushed them to start walking, but abruptly stopped. "But not before I take my medicine again."

Natsu saw that Lucy started to go green and got the medicine jar from the sack Eric gave back to them before splitting up and fed it to Lucy. She ate the medicine with the same disgusted face, but she noticed that it doesn't taste that weird after each time she ate it.

"Are you alright now?"

"Yeah, better. If we don't get the medicine ASAP, I think it'll get worse." Sapphire warned.

"But I feel fine!"

"That's what we call 'the calm before the storm'. Believe me, I've seen it happen; people all looking happy and cheerful and healthy, the next thing you know, they fall on the ground; they're body suddenly too weak to even stand up. We dragons faced them once, they were invading the major cities, and we tried to go against them. When it started, they put the same thing on the people; at first they knew nothing about it, but the next day everyone started to fall ill. I don't know if it is because you're from another world or different reasons, but usually, when the symptoms start, they all immediately fall to the ground dead and their bodies started rotting in a horrifying speed."

They were already walking when Sapphire started talking, but the temperature was too hot to concentrate so they told her they would ask her about it once they got back to Grandine; right now, they wanted to focus on finding the last and final herb.

"H-hey…why doesn't Natsu-san f-feel hot?" Wendy asked as she walked through the sand. Around them was the vast desert and they could not see the end it, only the horizon.

"Probably because…wait a sec…" Lucy had to blink out several grains of sand from her eyes, "b-because he's magic is fire, so he's immune to heat?"

"Strange…if Gray-san is immune to ice and cold, and his weakness is heat, then…then if Natsu is immune to heat, why is still fine in the cold…? Shouldn't he be weak to cold, too?"

"No, he can be immune to cold because he can increase his body temperature, he should be scared of the heat instead. But I guess one of the reasons is because of his idiocy." Gray answered. He used his hand to block the bright sunlight from his eyes and he took off his pants, now he was only wearing a pair of boxers. "How the hell would a plant survive in this kind of weather, in this god-forsaken land nonetheless? It's impossible!"

"But cacti can…" Wendy was supposed to answer.

"In this sandy desert? I don't see a single cactus anywhere! If there was, I'd probably slice it open by now."

"Uh…well…this…"

After a few more minutes of walking, Sapphire noticed some palm trees poking out from the distance.

_I think I've found the oasis._

_Really? Where!_ Lucy looked up at Sapphire.

_Right in front of us, I'm thinking a few meters ahead._

"Guys! Sapphire said she saw the oasis! It's just ahead!"

Everyone heard it and they raced to the top of the sand dune. When they looked down they saw a small patch of green with palm trees, and most important of all, it had a small pond.

"Finally! Water!" Happy raced ahead of them, followed by Gray.

"The last to get there is uglier than Natsu!"

All of them slid down the dune and rushed towards the oasis and they all jumped in the water. Sapphire turned into human first before jumping in, since it was too small if she still wanted to go in the water in dragon form. Lucy floated in the water, savoring the moment.

"Ahh…it feels like heaven…"

"Alright, once we're done, search for the herb." Erza ordered, though she, too, was in the water.

They didn't want to leave, but they had to since Sapphire warned them the sooner they get the plant, the better. Once they left the small pool of water, the water on their clothes seemed to evaporate the moment they got out and it was immediately dry.

"Crud, and I thought it would stay this way a bit longer…" Gray sighed.

"Stop complaining and help us search." Lucy rolled her eyes.

They searched for a while, but they didn't find it. Disappointed, they took off for the next oasis, though a bit hesitant.

While suffering from the hot rays of the sun again, they remembered they still had bottles of pure water in the bag and they totally forgot about it. Erza had to watch out for Gray and Happy, since they always seem to take a few extra gulps while drinking, but it doesn't matter since they could refill it again at the next oasis.

They kept searching and walking and searching again under the hot sun, and despite them cooling off over and over again, it's still a huge stress on the body and mind, not that they're weak or anything, they could stand hardships not many others can, but the heat was still too much.

At last, when they were about to go insane, they finally found the herb at the nth oasis and Sapphire said they could ride on her now that they found it, they could just fly straight to Grandine's cave.

~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~

"So, how was the desert?" Eric asked them. They were in the cave while Grandine and Wendy went further inside to create the potion for Lucy and the others were allowed to do whatever they wanted as long as it's not reckless and that they won't destroy the interior of the cave, not that there's anything to destroy, but if Natsu launches a single punch on the wall, the cave might collapse over them, so Erza again had to order him to not cause any serious damage. Natsu shrugged it off and went out of the cave with Happy, saying they were gonna go beetle hunting.

"That idiot, there won't be any beetles right now; they only appear in the summer." Gray murmured.

"What do you think?" Sapphire asked sarcastically.

"At least you got the herb, that's one burden off your shoulders, right?"

"True, though you had no part in it." Erza narrowed her eyes at him.

"Hey, I gave you guys the other two plants for free, remember! That was also a big help! If I didn't give it to you, you'd probably still be in that forest, wandering around for the herb!"

"You know it's true, Erza." Lucy intervened. "He saved us a great deal of time by offering us the plants."

"Can't you see I'm just toying with him?" Erza rolled her eyes.

Lucy stared at her dumbfounded. Erza never, ever toyed with anyone before. Maybe she's also some kind of curse that's similar to hers…? She suddenly remembered something. Lucy moved closer to Erza and others couldn't hear what she'll say.

'Hey, Erza…? Umm, can I ask you a favor?'

"Hmm? Sure! What do you need?"

'Shh! Don't let anybody know, okay?' Lucy lifted a finger to her lips. 'Ugh, this is kinda embarrassing but…will you train with me?'

This time it was Erza who stared at her dumbfounded. "Train with you?" Lucy motioned for her to keep quiet. 'Well, I'd be glad to, but more importantly, why? You're already strong enough, why train?'

'I knew you'd say that…anyway, I want to train because compared to you guys, I'm weak. Heck, even Wendy might be stronger than me!'

'That is not true.' Erza said sternly.

'Fine, let's not talk about physical strength. I'm just a teenage girl that just recently found a new reason to use my magic, and most of you have been in touch with magic since young! Compared to you guys, the amount of magic I could muster is nothing! About physical strength, maybe Wendy might not be stronger than me, but you, Gray, and Natsu are all extremely strong. If in a difficult situation where we can't use magic, I have nothing left but my whip, then I'd have to rely on you guys. Don't you think that's not fair?'

Erza took in what she said and contemplated on it.

'So…you want to grow stronger, in terms of both magical and physical strength?'

Lucy nodded vigorously, glad that she finally got it.

'Hmm, training with you will be easy, but don't expect that you'll grow stronger over night.'

'I know that's impossible. Anyway, if we really were to train, can we train in secret?'

'Normally I wouldn't ask why, since it's your reason and it doesn't affect me, but now I'm curious. Why won't you let others know?'

'Uhh…it's just…something I don't want others to know, alright!' Lucy lowered her head in embarrassment.

'Sigh…fine, fine, I'll train with you. How about early morning and before you go to bed at night everyday?'

'That's fine with me, but we'll need a place to train first…'

'That's not a problem. Since it's your first time, we'll jog first, then we'll eventually get to the other trainings. It's important to train your stamina first.'

'Alright, then it's decided.' Lucy nodded at her and then moved away, pretending nothing ever happened. She was determined to keep it a secret to everyone else.

Natsu came back with Happy with his head low in disappointment. They couldn't find any beetles nearby.

"I told ya." Gray rolled his eyes.

"I'm bored." Natsu ignored Gray's comment and sat beside Lucy.

Just as he sat down, Grandine and Wendy came out and told them that they have prepared for the ritual.

"Ritual? I thought it was some sort of medicine…"

"I never said that." Grandine snorted. "Now, Lucy needs to come with me and Wendy."

"Can't we watch?"

"It's best not."

With that said, Lucy followed them further inside the cave where they prepared the ritual site. She can't do anything but trust her; they've already searched for all of the plants, she can't just back out in the last minute.

After they passed a small tunnel, Grandine chanted a spell and a barrier was created, said it was just in case they didn't listen and followed.

They lead her to the center of a small clearing in the huge cave and there was a small hole on the ceiling above. Sunlight passed through the small hole to the very center, and Grandine motioned for her to stand there. On the ground were strange drawings of red and black ink, and beside it was a bowl filled with a strange liquid which Lucy quickly suspected was the herbs they had found.

All of this seemed so…out of the world. Was Grandine really going to heal her? This all seemed like what a quack doctor or shaman would do. She can't believe Grandine is actually the best healer in the world. Can't really blame her, Lucy's more of the scientific type, she doesn't believe in something that is unproven of, but right now, she doesn't have much choice, now does she?

"Uh, are you sure this is safe?"

"Mhmm, don't worry, have faith in Grandine." Wendy smiled at her.

Lucy smiled back, but bitterly, though Wendy didn't notice.

"Alright Lucy, are you ready?"

"I don't think so…will it hurt?"

Grandine blinked, then laughed. "No, no it won't. It'll feel like something is being pulled out of you, it won't hurt, though I can't say if it's comfortable or not."

"That's reassuring…"

"Hahahaha, you worry too much. There won't be any danger or pain, so just relax."

Lucy exhaled and did as she told her to.

"Good. Now drink from that bowl beside you, and I suggest you drink it in one go."

She took the bowl and drank from it, and she almost puked it all out again. The smell was foul, and the taste was worse. It was extremely bitter with another weird taste and her eyes watered.

"Wh-what the hell…"

"Disgusting, I know." Grandine sighed. "Now I want you to sit down where you are and close your eyes, remember to keep your muscles and mind relaxed."

After she sat down, Grandine stood in front of her and started to chant something. Lucy has never heard of the language and she frowned. She's really starting to think Grandine's actually some kind of quack. Suddenly, the chanting stopped and Lucy could feel a warm breeze on her face. It was soothing and her tense muscle started to relax, then, as if she was punched by an invisible force, the air was forced out of her. She felt a pulling sensation afterwards and it didn't feel exactly nice.

"Resist it, Lucy. Don't move a muscle, or else what you've gone through will all be for nothing." Grandine's voice reached her ears. She gulped and tried to stay still, but it was like there was a giant whirlwind surrounding her, threatening to tear her apart if she didn't move.

"Lucy-san, you can do this! Just a bit more! Think about all the things we've been through! If we fail this time, we need to search for the herbs again!" This time it was Wendy.

Lucy clenched her teeth and did the best she could. She mustered all her strength and stayed still, fighting against the wind that wanted to push her down. Then it was silent again.

"Hah…you can open your eyes now…" Grandine said, exhausted.

Lucy finally opened her eyes and saw that both Grandine and Wendy were on the ground, panting and sweating as if they did a 3km run non-stop. She noticed a glass jar beside Grandine that wasn't there before and inside was a small black whirlwind, running around the sides and bumping it, as if wishing to break out.

"So, is that what was bothering me?" Somehow Lucy also felt tired and relieved at the same time.

"Yes…" Grandine composed herself and stood up again. "That was harder than I thought."

"Wait, you mean you've never done this before?"

"I read it in the books, but no, I've never done it before, there simply weren't any chance I could test it on."

"So I became your lab rat." Lucy's right eye twitched.

"A successful one." Grandine grinned.

Lucy gritted her teeth and she could feel a migraine coming.

"Think on the bright side! At least you're fine now!" Wendy smiled at her.

Lucy sighed and nodded. "Alright, fine. C'mon, the others are still waiting."

Grandine took out the barrier and they all walked out.

~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~

Natsu was walking around in circles again, this time he was also biting his finger nails.

"Calm down! Sheesh, you're making me dizzy!" Gray commented but Natsu ignored him.

Right after Grandine, Wendy, and Lucy was out of sight, he wanted to follow them but realized Grandine had put up a barrier.

"Natsu, sit down, you must be tired." Happy said.

"Yes, sit down. I'm sure Lucy will be fine once the ritual is done." Erza glanced at the tunnel they went in minutes ago.

"I know! But I just can't help it…" Natsu said, and he suddenly lifted her head. "Lucy…?"

They came out from the tunnel and greeted them with a smile. "Hey guys."

"Lucy! You're alright! Is it done? Are you cured now? Do you feel sick?"

"Whoa, I can't answer that many questions at once!" Lucy laughed. "Yes, it's done, I'm cured, and I feel fine." She smiled at him.

Natsu let out a sigh of relief and let the others examine her.

"*Sniff* She's cured alright." Sapphire confirmed.

"Yup, I could feel it." Eric said.

"Is that what was causing all the trouble?" Erza pointed to the jar Grandine was holding. She flinched when it hit the side.

Grandine nodded. "Don't worry. He won't be causing anymore trouble inside this glass jar. I'll have him for safekeeping. Though the jar is reinforced with magic, it'll probably break with heavy impact."

"I agree. With our constant traveling, I don't think it'll be safe with us. Besides, we don't have a use for it anyway." Erza shrugged.

"Now that you mention traveling, that means we can now search for our Nakama, right?" Gray pointed out.

"Yes, and I think I have some information about one of your friends. Wait for a moment." Grandine disappeared inside the tunnel again and replaced the black whirlwind with a small piece of paper. "While you were gone, I went into the town to buy some things and overheard people talking about a peculiar girl with short white hair, and from what information I could gather, she was about the same age as Natsu and said she was lost from her 'guild mates'." Grandine added quotation marks on "guild mates".

"That must be Lisanna!" Natsu shouted.

"Indeed, that description does sound like her." Erza nodded.

"Last I heard, she was at Kroger, not far from here, but you'd still need at least two days. I'll point it out on the map for you." They handed her the map and she added a marker beside a town. They also gave her back the medicine Lucy had been eating, since she won't need it and Natsu barely feels the pain on his jaw now. This amused Grandine, as she thought it would take more than a week before it heals, though she shrugged the idea off once she remembered it was Natsu they were talking about.

They all said their thanks and Wendy hugged Grandine one more time before they took off for Kroger, about two days ride from where they are.

* * *

><p>So, what do you think?<p>

By the way, if you're confused, (_ _) - this means bow :D

And, on the information about the seven princes of hell, Peter Binsfeld is a real person and he did make a list of the seven princes, he's also a Jesuit. And, if you're saying that why isn't the "g" in god not capitalized, I'm an atheist, or more specifically, apatheist, meaning that I simply do not care if there is a god or not. It doesn't mean that I believe in satan or anything like that (though I admit it's fascinating), and it most definitely doesn't mean that I hate god or any of his believers. I'm not here to cause a religious war across the internet or something like that. I'm open to all of the religion, but I will still hold to my belief, if you can call it that. My mom's a catholic, by the way, and I attend catholic school, not that I chose it or anything.

Please leave a review :D


	13. Chapter 13 Disturbing Dreams

So, here comes another chapter! And it's longer than the last one! Yay!

It's still kinda late, I apologize again. I was actually planning to post this last week.

And school just started here and I'm a junior now! So from now on, my brain will be dead tired after I come home, but I'll try to put up a chapter at least every two weeks!

* * *

><p>Chapter 13 Disturbing Dreams<p>

Sapphire landed on a small clearing and they all jumped down from her back. Eric landed softly beside them and his bat-like wings faded into thin air.

"That's cool, to have wings on your own." Lucy commented. "Pretty convenient."

"It is." Charle said. "At least you could fly anywhere you want, not like here on the ground."

"Aye! And when your feet are tired, you could just float about." Happy said. "Plus it's faster than walking."

"How I wish I could have wings, too." Lucy sighed enviously as she sat down on the soft grass.

Eric sat beside her and blew air into her ear. "If you really wished so, I could just give you wings, easy."

Lucy squealed and moved away from the grinning vampire. "Will you stop that!"

Eric chuckled and Natsu glared at him and looked like he was about to attack him, but he didn't.

"What do you mean you can give her wings?" Gray asked.

"Obviously, he'll turn her into a vampire." Sapphire rolled her eyes. "It's possible, is it not? Even after you've done the loyalty ritual thing?"

"Yes, it is. All she has to do is ask, then I'll have full permission to do so."

"Really…? Hmm, it _is_ tempting…"

"O-oi, you really aren't considering it, are you?" Natsu asked.

"Of course not, dummy!" Lucy sighed. "It's true that the powers you'll have once you're turned sounds awesome, but then that means I'm abandoning my humanity and together with it, many things that I'll most probably miss. Don't you sometimes wish you were human again?" She asked Eric.

Eric was dumfounded by the question. Nobody has ever asked him that before, not even fellow vampires. They all seemed to enjoy how they are right now, so he never considered it. Now that she mentioned it…

"I've never thought of that before…even other vampires never seem to notice it." Eric sighed. "There are also some things about vampires that I've never told you yet. Vampire's are not immortal, we die too, but we all have a much longer lifespan than most of the creatures, that's why we are always considered to never die. But even if we can still die out of extreme old age, we still experience many…unpleasant things. When I just became a vampire, I couldn't stand being away from my family, so I lived close to them, though they all thought that I was already dead. It proved to be a bad idea. I watched them from afar, and continued to do so for years. I didn't notice how fast time went, and when I came to, the family members I knew of were already dying of old age or disease. My mother was the first one, then my dad and brother, when my sister also died, that was when I finally moved away. I couldn't bear to see the faces of their children, it was painful. Then, after a few decades, I tried to be close with other people again. Close enough that they would know and trust me, but not dear enough that it's painful to see them die. Our strength cannot be controlled; once you lose control over something, you break it. That was when I realized that humans were so fragile, it was like a simple touch could break them into pieces. So I decided to seclude myself against all humans and stay with my fellow vampires instead. Oh, and the never ending blood-thirst…"

Lucy put her hand on his shoulder and motioned for him to stop. He realized that he curled his legs up against his chest and he looked like a helpless young child.

They were all silent for a moment.

"That's…sad…" Erza commented.

"It is." Eric shrugged. "But I'm over it already; as people say, 'there's nothing Time can't heal', and I'm already over five hundred years old, if you also count my human years."

"Five hundred! How long can vampires live?"

"Hmm…this depends on the vampire him or herself. But the average is about eight hundred to one thousand years. I've also heard of some who have lived for over two thousand."

"Wow, so you still have about roughly three hundred years left." Gray said as he leaned against a tree.

"Pretty much, more if I take good care of myself. But it's true, there are many things in being human that I do miss, be it good or bad." Eric sighed. "By the way, shouldn't we be preparing to camp right now?"

"Oh, right. Got caught up in your story. Natsu, Lucy, and Eric, you go find firewood. Me, Gray, Sapphire, and Wendy will go find food. Charle can come with us and Happy with Natsu." Erza ordered.

"Aye!"

"Mhmm." Charle sighed as she flew over to Wendy.

"Oh, and if you guys come back first, you can start the fire."

"Got it." Lucy nodded and they split up.

Gray looked over his shoulder and stared as they walked further. He then smirked at Erza. "I know what you're up to…"

"I already told Eric about it." Sapphire chuckled.

Wendy just laughed.

Erza blinked for a few times, then said in an authoritative manner, "I have no idea what you guys are talking about.", though there was a smile visible on her face.

~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~

"Why do we have to team up with him…?" Natsu mumbled as they searched for dry tree branches.

"Well, Erza was the one who decided it, and you didn't object either." Lucy reasoned.

Eric was walking ahead of them and he probably couldn't hear what they were talking about. He was already far from them when he stopped to look at something. He then called for Lucy. Natsu watched as Lucy ran to him to take a look at something in his hands.

As he came neared to them, he could see Lucy laughing at some remark he made and took a peak at what they were looking at. It was a small squirrel.

"…even when I want to share my food!" Lucy said.

"You seem to forget that I've lived most of my life in the forest and I don't smell like a human to them." Eric shrugged.

"Hmm…" Lucy thought for a while. "Maybe. But it's just so nice to be able to pick it up without it scurrying off. I've always wanted to do so."

"Here, you can hold her." Eric motioned for her to stretch out her hand.

"Really, are you sure? And how did you know it's a she?" Lucy asked as she slowly stretched her hand toward the furry animal while Eric was petting and encouraging it.

"Well, live in the forest for more than five hundred years and you'll know." The squirrel was now standing on his palm and he moved his hand beside Lucy's. The squirrel moved on to Lucy's hand and she squealed in delight, just like a five year old girl getting a brand new doll.

Eric and Lucy were still talking about the squirrel and how it was like to live in a forest in full seclusion. They completely forgot that they were supposed to pick up firewood and, most importantly, they also forgot Natsu and Happy's presence. Happy didn't notice, but Natsu did, though, and he's never been so annoyed in his whole life. He could feel his eye twitch in irritation as he picked up the tree branches on the ground while the two still carried on conversing with each other.

_What was the word again? I think I heard someone said it before. Was it Juvia? Yeah, it was Juvia. What did she say that time?_ Natsu frowned as he tried his best to recall the word. _Fli…flir…flirting? Yeah, I think it is. Is _he _flirting with Lucy?_

He turned around and watched as Eric chatted happily with Lucy. They were walking side by side and the distance between them was awfully close. He didn't know if that bloodsucker really was flirting with her, since he never knew how it was like to flirt with somebody, all he knows is that it's making him uncomfortable, very, very, uncomfortable. He wanted to grab him and punch him in the face so badly, and he almost did, but then remembered that Lucy was there.

_How would she react? Probably will be really mad at me._ He didn't want Lucy to get mad at him. Nope, he doesn't. _And she probably won't talk to me after I do it._ He didn't want that to happen either. So he swallowed his anger and walked away.

Happy looked at him curiously. Somehow, in just a matter of seconds, Natsu's mood quickly changed from irritated to foul.

"Hey, Natsu, why are you upset?"

"Me, upset? What are you talking about?" Natsu glanced away guiltily. Most of his life, he has never lied to Happy, nor has he kept any secret from him. But now, he felt that he didn't want to tell him what he feels. Besides, if he told Happy, he'll probably shout it out to the world. Not that it's a bad thing, but he wanted to be sure about it first.

"Really? Are you sure? Cuz your face is really scary right now." Happy commented.

"Huh?" It was then that Natsu realized he was really tense. He let out a huge sigh and then faced Happy again. "There, how is it now?"

Happy observed for a few moments. "Better, but you still look obviously upset about something."

"Nah, it's nothing. You worry too much." He waved it off. Dang, he doesn't know if it's because Happy has lived with him for all his life or not, but that cat can see through his eyes.

"Hmm…it's ok, you can eat some fish later. Eating fish always makes me feel better!" Happy said as his mouth watered at the thought of fish.

Natsu chuckled and smiled, and Happy smiled back, too. They kept on picking firewood, and when they thought it was enough for the night, they headed back to their camp site.

Lucy noticed Natsu was already heading back and she realized that she and Eric have done nothing but chat. She walked beside Natsu and found that he and Happy have already found enough firewood.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry. Here, let me help." She offered to carry some of the wood, but Natsu didn't want to.

"S' okay, I can carry them myself. Why don't you continue chatting with Eric?"

Lucy could obviously sense his foul mood. "C'mon, let me help. I already said I'm sorry. Are you mad because we didn't do anything?"

"No."

"Then what it is?"

"It's nothing, alright!" Natsu shouted. "I can handle these on my own!"

Lucy was surprised by his sudden outburst and watched him walk away. "Did he just…shout at me…?"

"He sure did." Eric said.

Lucy glared at him and then sighed. "What's wrong with him? This is the first time he ever shouted at me. I even apologized and offered my help!"

"I have no idea. Let's go back." Eric stretched out his hand toward Lucy. Lucy looked at his hand and walked back toward the camp site, but she didn't take his hand. Eric just chuckled and sent Sapphire the message.

~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~

"Eric told me that it was a success. A huge one." Sapphire told the others.

"Really? Great! Let's just hope that this boosts their relationship." Wendy said.

"Yeah, either that, or it could go the other way."

"The other way…?" Wendy looked at Gray quizzically.

"It's either Natsu and Lucy finally realize their feelings for each other and confess, or it's over. Depends on how they manage it. If Lucy takes the misunderstanding seriously, and Natsu is really furious at her and Eric, then they might consider breaking off their friendship. Though I'm sure Lucy wouldn't want that, but it is still possible."

"Gray is right. So later when get back, we'll have to observe first then think of our next move." Erza said as she pushed away the bushes in front of her. They have already been searching for ten minutes and they haven't seen nor sensed any other animal. Not even a rabbit. "What is wrong with this place? Wendy, Sapphire, you still can't sense any other living being?"

Wendy sniffed the air, so did Sapphire, but they both shook their head. "Though there is a small stream right ahead of us."

"And judging from the scent, it's not far."

"Great, then we'll have fish for tonight." Erza said.

"But we can't be sure if there is fish or not."

"Then let's check it out first."

They walked for another ten minutes before they saw the stream. Under the moonlight, the water looked clean enough to drink and there were some fish swimming in it.

"Alright! Let's hurry and catch some fish, the others are probably waiting for us now!" Erza said and she got out a long stick. Probably picked it up earlier. She also seemed to have the tip sharpened. When did she do that?

"You guys can pick up some sticks and sharpen it with a small knife. I'll start first." She stood at the side of the stream and concentrated on the movement of the fish. Just when a fish was passing by in front of her, she raised her makeshift spear and pierced the water. It hit the fish and it was wriggling helplessly.

Gray, Wendy, Sapphire, and Charle were dumbstruck.

"F-fast…"

"Even though I've been friends with her since we were kids, it's still scary."

"I suddenly feel sorry for the fish…" Wendy said as she stared at the fish on the tip of her spear.

"Hey Erza, why didn't you use your own spears?"

"One, it's unhygienic, I use it defeat enemies, remember? Two, it'll get dirty and I have to clean it again." She said.

"Oh, ok." Gray shrugged.

"Why isn't there any single person in the guild who's normal?" Charle sighed and went to look for a long wooden stick. She found a good one and handed it to Wendy. "Here ya go."

Wendy got it and smiled. "Thanks Charle."

Gray also went to look for a long stick in the bushes and carved the tip. Sapphire didn't, though. She stood beside the stream and then raised her hand. Suddenly, the water was raised and hit the ground beside her; the soil quickly sucked the water dry, leaving fish jumping around.

"If you told us earlier, we wouldn't be wasting time here." Erza said as she picked up the fish and placed it through her spear. Gray and Wendy did the same.

"But it's not fair when only I do the work." Sapphire grinned.

Erza sighed. "Whatever, let's hurry up and get back."

They picked how much they needed and put the other fish back to the stream.

When they got back, they found out that the fire has already been set up and they were all waiting for them. When Natsu saw them come back, he jumped up and got Wendy's spear.

"Hey, what's the rush?" Gray said as he put the fish on separate sticks and placed them beside the fire to cook.

"I'm starving here! What took you guys so long?"

"The stream was twenty minutes from here, and we didn't see any other animals."

"Really? Weird, this place is usually filled with them. Now that you mention it, I haven't seen any other animals either, except for that small squirrel." Eric said.

"Then you shouldn't have let it go…"

"It was just a baby, c'mon. And only one baby squirrel won't fill our appetites anyway." Lucy said as she watched the fish cook. The smell of cooked fish was making her mouth water and she couldn't wait until it was done. Of course, she could also eat it raw like sashimi, but then she lacks the required soy sauce and wasabi. "Ugh, is it done yet?"

Erza checked one of the fishes and nodded, then they all lunged in for a fish. Eric watched as they ate and Lucy offered one to him but he just shook his head. "I prefer blood." He said to them.

Lucy shrugged and went back to her second fish. After they were full, Lucy stretched and felt sleepy, but before she could say anything, Eric grabbed her arm and asked if he could have some blood.

"But I thought you could last for a month?"

"Yeah, and I said it depends on the amount. Last time was the limit. If I drank anymore you would die of blood loss. So if you would let me drink now, then I would be able last for a month." Eric reasoned.

"This…"

"Hell no she won't!" Natsu snapped. "Lucy said she will let you drink her blood only when you need it or if you're starving. You don't look hungry to me now." Besides, he wouldn't ever want to watch "that" kind of scene again. Just thinking about it makes his blood boil in anger.

"It's true that I said that, but…" Lucy thought for a moment. "It wouldn't hurt to give you another drink. You said you would last a month without drinking after this time, right?"

"Yep, I'm sure of it."

"Fine." Lucy walked straight at Eric and sat in front of him. "Do it."

"What?" Natsu shouted in disbelief.

"Whoa, aren't you eager." Eric smirked and showed out his fangs.

Just before Eric grabbed her, Wendy made sure she covered her eyes well and Gray stopped Natsu from pouncing on the vampire.

"E-Erza, help m-me…" Gray said as he tried to hold on to the infuriated dragon-slayer. "He might k-kill him…"

"*Sigh*, you're right." Erza stood in front on Natsu and gave him a blow to the head. His limp body was immediately let go by Gray and he fell to the ground.

"Thanks a lot…" Gray sighed. He glanced at Eric and Lucy and almost blushed. _Does he really have to do that in front of everybody? I'm sure Erza and Sapphire will yell at me if I look so I'll…_ He turned to look at them and was shock to see that they were both staring intensely at them.

"What the hell?" He shouted.

Sapphire shushed him and continued watching them with Erza.

"S-stop it!"

"Almost…"

"Ahh! It hurts!"

_Even the dialogue is enough to make a bystander misunderstand…_ Gray sighed. He sat beside Wendy, who closed her eyes and covered her ears, and pretended that nothing was happening. Charle and Happy were no where to be found. _Wonder where those two cats went? Probably somewhere where they can't see and hear all of this…_

"A-are you d-done yet…? Ah!" Lucy moaned.

Eric didn't answer, and after a few long seconds, he finally let go. Once Lucy felt his arms around her loosen, she scrambled away from him with a very flushed face.

"Why did you tickle me?" She said as she put her hand over the spot where Eric bit her.

"Sorry, didn't know you were ticklish, was just experimenting." Erick grinned.

"I swear, I'll never give off my blood that easily next time!" She glared at him and noticed that Natsu was lying face down on the ground. "What happened to him?"

"That's it?" Sapphire suddenly said.

Erza coughed. "It's nothing. A tree branch hit him."

_Really? A tree branch?_ Gray's eyes twitched._ That's one lame excuse._ He expected Lucy would see right through it but was surprised that she just shrugged it off.

"Is it done yet…?" Wendy asked as she slightly opened her eyes.

"Yeah, it's done. Eric, will you stop doing this next time? We still have a minor here!" Lucy sighed.

"Oh, sorry kid, forgot. Next time we'll do it in a secluded place so no one can…" His sentenced got interrupted by Lucy who managed to punch him in the head with all her strength.

"Quit it." She said in her lowered voice. Eric watched in surprise as she sat down with her back against a tree, preparing to sleep. Another blood-sucking session has made her terribly tired and her blood sugar low.

"I know how you feel, man. She's shown her 'other' side occasionally. You do not, and I repeat, 'do not' want to anger her in this state." Gray gave Eric a sympathetic pat on the back and also decided to go to sleep.

"Anyway, who'll be the look out this time?" Erza asked.

"I'll do it." Eric raised his hand. "I don't need to sleep anyway."

"Really? That's good. We were all tired." Sapphire yawned.

Charle and Happy was back and they were both on separate tree branches, already sleeping.

"Alright, let me know if you see or hear anything suspicious." Erza told him and he nodded at her.

Eric climbed up a tree so he could have a better view of everything and sat back, relaxed.

"This is going to be a long night." He said to himself.

~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~

_Darkness._

"_Huh?" Lucy said as she looked around her. There was nothing but darkness. "Why do I have this strange feeling of déjà vu?"_

_She walked around for a moment when she finally remembered it. This strange sense of familiarity, the never ending void around her, and not an inch of light could be seen anywhere._

"_Oh no…" She said. She felt that the space she was in was closing in on her, suffocating her, as if sucking the oxygen out. She felt her chest tighten and her stomach churn. If she didn't get out of there fast, she'd probably suffocate to death. "But where's the exit…?"_

_Around her, she could not see a hole, opening, or tunnel of some sort. She couldn't see where she was. She didn't even know where she was. She kept on walking and walking, and even though she can't see a thing around her, she felt that there were walls around her, moving closer to her, like they're gonna squish her. She winced. That's not a pretty sight, nor did she think it will feel good._

_After walking for what seemed like hours, Lucy finally gave in to her fears and tears streamed down her cheek. No matter how far or long she walked, there was no exit._

"_Dammit…" She stood still as she wiped her cheeks. If there really were no exit, then she'd rather suffocate here and end all of this. "I wanna go home…"_

_Suddenly, she felt a warm breeze caress her cheek. "Was that…wind?" It's true, she felt wind breeze past. So there is a way out after all!_

_She waited for another breeze and ran to the opposite direction, where it came from. She didn't know how long it took for her to see light. She didn't care. All she cared for is to get out of that wretched place and back to the light and her nakama. Back to Natsu. Just as she was thinking about jumping into his embrace, she suddenly remembered what she saw the last time she was in a similar situation. Just simply recalling it made her chest ache. Could she really have done that? Those cruel and monstrous things?_

_She didn't know, and even if she was disgusted and heart-broken at the idea of seeing it again, she had to. She had to get out of this place and see for herself if it was really her._

"_Maybe…just maybe, if what's outside is the same as last time, I'll have to take a closer look at who the girl in the Goth dress was." Lucy said to herself. Maybe it was just another girl who looked a bit like her, and she was too devastated to take a good look. Maybe it was her tears that blurred her eyes. Yeah, it's possible._

_With that in mind, she stepped out to the light. Like the last dream, she had to shade her eyes from the light again, and after it was better, she took a good at her surroundings. As expected, it was the same. She first saw Erza lying on the ground not far from her, then Gray who lied face down. Happy, Charle, and Wendy were also not far from her. She searched for Natsu and saw two faint silhouettes; one was on the ground the other standing. She couldn't see very well because of the thick fog so she walked closer. It was Natsu and the "girl". Lucy swallowed hard and tried not to think about her fallen friends and focused on the girl in front of her._

_She looked the same as she did, which scared Lucy very much because they _did_ look alike. The girl was wearing the same Goth dress and blank expression with blood stains on her hands, dress, and face. She looked like Lucy very much, like they're twins. The difference this time was that her hair's black. As black as midnight, where the moon was missing and there were no stars to illuminate the night sky._

"_You aren't me…" Lucy said, partly scared, and partly relieved. It wasn't her who killed her friends. Her loved one._

_Suddenly, the girl smiled. Her smile was eerie and insane, with all the blood splatters on her petite and beautiful face. "Really…?"_

_Her voice sent shivers down Lucy's spine. Her voice, it was exactly like hers, except it was tainted with blood lust and insanity._

"_I'm not you…? But look! We look alike! Not the hair, but the face and the voice! We're like two faces of a coin. Not the same, but nevertheless share the same body. Admit it Lucy, you and I, are the same person."_

"Ahh!" Lucy screamed as she sat up, sweat covered every inch f her body and she panted heavily, as if she just went through a marathon.

"Luce! Are you alright!" Natsu was the first one to wake up and rush to her side. He held her trembling shoulders and looked at her. She looked spooked. "Was it a nightmare?"

Lucy didn't answer. She couldn't answer. Her sobs drowned her words as she cried while being held by Natsu. After a while, the warmth from his embrace finally calmed her down and she managed to speak.

"I-it's nothing, really, just a bad d-dream…" She said as she wiped the tears off her face. Natsu sighed and gave her one final squeeze before letting Wendy give her something that will sooth her nerves.

"It's alright, Lucy-san, everything is fine now." Wendy said as she performed the spell. Lucy's sobs died out and she let out a sigh.

"Thank you, Wendy." Lucy smiled at the girl and at everyone, telling them that she's alright now.

Erza, Gray, and Happy questioned her about the nightmare she had but she wouldn't talk about it. They couldn't get anything out of her so they all shrugged and went back to sleep. Everyone except Eric, Charle, and Sapphire knew exactly what happened, but they wouldn't tell the others, of course.

Lucy sat against a tree and just sat there, watching the night sky and trying to recognize the constellations. She heard a rustle of grass and Natsu sat beside her.

Eric noticed this and excused himself; he disappeared out of their sight but hid behind some bushes. He would never miss this kind of thing, and he'd have some news to tell the others in the morning.

They sat they're for a few awkward moments before Natsu finally talked to her.

"Are you…really alright?"

"Huh?" Lucy blinked in surprise, not expecting him to speak to her after what happened a while ago. "Y-yeah, I'm fine now."

"Y'know…you could always tell me what happened, I can keep a secret…" Natsu said as he lowered his head.

"I know…" Lucy sighed.

More awkward silences. Natsu was about to go back to his spot before Lucy talked and he stayed.

"You know what time in the day I like the most?"

"No."

"Night time. Preferably when the moon isn't shining. Because that's the time when you can see the stars." Lucy said softly as she her eyes gazed through constellation after constellation.

"…" Natsu wasn't sure how he should reply so he just kept quiet.

"My mother told me many stories while she was alive. I loved the ones that included stars and constellations. She told me about ancient Greek stories and the story of each constellation. She also said that when a person dies, he or she becomes a star, too. That's why there are countless stars right now. Do you think my mother is up there?"

Natsu stared at her before answering. "Of course, and I bet she'll be the brightest star in the universe." He didn't know what else to say, so he kept quiet again.

"You might be right, she is…she's the best mother in the whole world. But she just had to die young…" Lucy sighed.

"Lucy…"

"How about you?"

"Huh?"

"What about Igneel? How is he like?"

"Uh, well, I guess he's just like any other kind of father…"

"Really…?"

Natsu suddenly remembered that her own father didn't even treat her as his own child. _Stupid Natsu, baka Natsu. Of all the things you can say…_

"I'm sorry…"

"It's alright, I'm over it already." Lucy interrupted. She also realized that Natsu was talking to her again and all she had to say was about stars and constellations.

Beside her, Natsu sighed. "Look, I don't care what happens, all I want you to know is that I'm always there for you, so you can tell me anything you want, you can count on me for that."

Lucy turned to look at his and saw that under the faint light coming from the stars above, his face was pink. Lucy giggled and Natsu just stared at her before he laughed, too.

"Alright, since you don't want to tell me anything, I'll go back…" He stopped when he felt Lucy grab his hand. Her fingers were trembling.

"Please, stay here with me…I'm scared. What if I have a nightmare again?"

Natsu sat back beside her and grabbed her shoulders, pulling her closer to him. "Fine."

Lucy leaned her head on his chest and let his heartbeat lull her sleep. Once she was sleeping, Eric came back and climbed up the tree again.

"Don't you dare think I didn't know you were hiding somewhere." Natsu's low voice startled him.

"Hahaha, I guess I couldn't hide from your nose after all. And I thought I blended well with the forest, seeming that I've lived in one for hundreds of years."

"Don't be ridiculous, I could smell you miles away, and tell you what? You stink." The annoyance and jealousy in his voice was obvious and Eric saw that Natsu held Lucy tighter when he returned his gaze.

"Really? I suppose you _do_ have an impressive sense of smell."

"Whatever, bloodsucker. If I see you do anything suspicious, I'll definitely beat the air out of you, I don't care what'll happen after that." After he finished his sentence, he hugged Lucy closer to him and fell asleep.

After he heard his snore, Eric smirked. _Interesting, I guess I'll play with them a little bit longer…_

~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~

The next morning, Natsu managed to wake up before the others did and slipped away from Lucy. She groaned in annoyance that somebody dare disrupt her sleep, but quickly relaxed. He wouldn't want the others to misunderstand, nor did he want Gray to mock and embarrass him over it.

After they woke up one by one, they quickly ate breakfast and were in the air again. They came down for a few breaks but otherwise sat on Sapphire's back the whole day. Happy couldn't stand the stress so Natsu had to sit on Sapphire again, since Charle was also exhausted and he'd rather get motion-sick than let Eric carry him. When the sun was setting, Sapphire landed in a forest again, but she assured them that the town was near and they'll just have to walk to get there.

Erza made Eric and Happy team up with Natsu and Lucy again, which Natsu was about to complain but was quickly stopped by Erza's glare. Eric said nothing about the incident that happened the night before and therefore Erza, Gray, and Wendy were clueless about it. They still thought that Lucy and Natsu were still mad at each other, since they barely talked to each other. The only ones who know are Natsu and Lucy themselves, and Eric and Sapphire, who got a glimpse of it from his mind and demanded answers. Eric didn't want to go against a dragon, and didn't want to risk her disliking him, so he told her everything, but asked if she could keep quiet about it. When Sapphire asked why, he just said that he has some "plans" in mind.

_You evil person…_ He heard Sapphire communicate with him telepathically. _What do you have in mind? I can't wait to know._

_Don't worry, Sapphire, you don't need to know right now. I'll be the one doing it, so all you have to do is sit back, relax, and wait for the show._

_Hmph, and you managed to block it from me, too. Dammit, why do you have to be so mysterious! It's frustrating!_

_And they say mysterious men have the most charm. Don't you agree? _Eric smirked.

_Ha, charm my face. If really so, care to explain why I don't feel anything?_

_Patience, dear, you'll see it someday. Now I'm afraid we have to cut our lovely conversation here. Natsu's starting to get suspicious of me._ Eric didn't wait for a reply; he blocked his thoughts from Sapphire and focused on the two ahead. Natsu was occasionally turning his head around to look at him, and Eric was sure Natsu saw him smirking at himself. Eric gave him a smile when he turned around and Natsu scowled.

"Natsu? What's wrong?" Lucy noticed it.

"It's nothing! I think I saw a rabbit back there but it was gone when I turned around." He said. "C'mon, let's hurry up and get the firewood!"

He walked faster and picked up every branch he could find, whether it was dry or not. It doesn't matter, really, since the branch would immediately dry off when Natsu held it. One of the great things about being a fire mage.

"He's acting weird again…" Lucy sighed.

"Isn't he always like this?" Eric said as he walked beside Lucy while occasionally bending down for branches.

"Not really. He was always predictable, like most boys, but recently I just can't get what he's thinking of, and it doesn't seem to be about food either."

"Is it possible he's thinking about a person? A girl perhaps?"

"I haven't thought of that, Natsu doesn't seem to be like the kind of guy who worries himself about girls, but now that you mention it, it _is_ possible."

_Oh, Lucy, if only you knew how much he worries about _you. Eric thought to himself and noticed that Lucy was thinking deeply about something. _Probably thinking about the possible girls that can make Natsu distracted. From what I heard from the others, this Lisanna we're finding is one possible candidate, but I think that's highly unlikely._

True, Lucy _was_ thinking about Lisanna and how much she meant to Natsu. _They're childhood friends and she knew much more about him than me, the other guild mates also know her better, she's been a mage since a child and is probably more powerful than me in terms of magic, and she's also really cute. Dammit, Lucy, why do you always have to be weaker than the others!_ Lucy yelled at herself in her mind. She mindlessly wandered around and picked up branches as she thought of something that she can compete with Lisanna.

"Lucy?" Eric callled.

"Hmm, it's possible…" Lucy said to herself. _It's true that Lisanna doesn't have a body as good as Mirajane's, and her own bust was larger than hers, but is that only thing she has over her?_

"Lucy~~!" Happy floated in front of her, trying to catch her attention, but it was no use.

"What are things I can use…?" She mumbled while completely ignoring the blue cat.

"Luce!" Natsu shouted, and that made her snap.

"What? Did something happen?" She looked around if there was any danger, but the others just stared at her. "What are you looking at?"

"That's definitely more than enough fire wood. How did you manage to carry so much anyway?" Eric pointed at the pile of branches Lucy was hugging and she looked at it. Somehow, she managed to pick up an absurd amount of branches and was carrying it around like it weighted nothing. Realization kicked in and it kicked her hard. She dropped all the branches as she noticed how heavy it was.

"Ow, my arms. How did I…?"

"That's exactly what we want to know." Eric sighed as he picked up some of the branches she dropped.

"Aye! And we also want to know what you were thinking so deeply about!" Happy said.

When he mentioned about what she was thinking, she blushed and Happy saw it.

"Lucy was thinking about dirty things!" He shouted.

"Shut up, cat! I wasn't thinking about dirty stuff!" She jumped, trying to get the blue feline who was flying about.

"Relax, Lucy, we know you aren't thinking about those." Eric assured her and she just sighed.

"That cat, I swear I'm gonna get him sometime…" She mumbled under her breath.

"Were you thinking about that dream you had yesterday?" Natsu asked.

"Not really, I was thinking about…something different." She said as she picked up some of the firewood she dropped.

"If you say so." Natsu shrugged.

They headed back and was surprised to see that the others had come back early with food. Gray pointed at the buck near the bushes. It lay dead without any physical injuries, so Lucy wondered how they killed it.

"It was about to run away when we saw it so Erza chased and strangled it." Sapphire said and Lucy shrugged. She imagined herself being chased by Erza and somehow felt pity for the deer.

"Alright, since you're back, why don't we start the fire? I'm hungry already." Erza said.

Lucy piled up the branches and made a fire, since Natsu wanted to eat the fire and he can't eat his own. Erza cooked the meat and they all ate until they were full. The deer was a surprisingly big one and they barely managed to finish it. Once they were done with dinner, Erza, Gray, and Wendy sat near each other so they can discuss what they're going to do with Natsu and Lucy while the said two sat across each other, both facing the fire, looking like they're still mad. Well, it isn't a lie that Natsu was mad, but he was mad at Eric, not Lucy, and Lucy just simply wanted to stay seated in silence, contemplating on something. Eric sat relaxed on a tree as he watched over the others, thinking about his plan while occasionally chatting with Sapphire using telepathy.

It was already late when they decided to sleep and most of them fell asleep almost immediately when they closed their eyes. Most of them. Eric still sat on the tree, since he doesn't sleep at all, and Natsu was making sure Eric didn't make a move on Lucy. They stayed like this all night.

~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~

_Darkness. Again._

"_Ugh." Lucy groaned. "Not this again. Maybe if I pinch myself I'll be able to wake up and skip over this nightmare." She pinched herself really hard on the cheek and winced in pain, but she was still there._

_She looked around. Pure darkness. Just like last time._

"_Hey! If this will be the same as the last dream, why don't we just cut to the chase? I don't want to wander around like this every time we meet!" She called out, not really expecting a reaction, so she jumped when she heard someone giggle._

"_Fine, fine. I guess the trick doesn't work the third time."_

_Lucy heard someone snap a finger and the void around her disappeared instantly. Now she was standing in front of the other Lucy in another space of nothingness, but this time they were surrounded in white._

"_Well, that was quick. Thanks, I thought I was gonna run around like an idiot again."_

"_Gotta admit its fun to see you like that." Dark Lucy smiled devilishly at her. She didn't know what else to call her, so since she's wearing black, Lucy decided to call her that._

"_What do you want this time? And I see that you've taken out the 'scenery'."_

"_Well, it's annoying to talk to when you're distracted and all." Dark Lucy shrugged. "And, nothing! Just wanted to see how you're doing!"_

"_You sadist…" Lucy sighed. "Can't I have at least one dreamless sleep?"_

"_Let me think… Nope! I don't want to!" She giggled._

_Lucy rolled her eyes. "Do whatever you like, I guess. I, however, have a few questions."_

"_Go on…"_

"_What I saw in my first and second dream…was it the future?"_

"_I don't really like to call it 'dream', since what's happening now is real. You're talking to me, not just some imagination shit that you're brain created. Let's call it 'meeting'. And, it is the future, well, one of the 'possible' futures."_

"_Possible…futures…?" She looked at Dark Lucy._

"_Yes. I can predict the future, but the future changes every time you make a different choice. I'm just showing you the most possible one."_

"_Most possible…" Lucy almost choked. If so, then it might really happen…?_

"_Yes, but don't expect me to help you. After all, I'm the one who gets to kill them, not you, and it'd be killjoy if I helped you prevent it."_

"_You're sick…"_

"_Say all you want, I'm part of you, anyway." Dark Lucy shrugged and Lucy had the urge to strangle her right then and there._

"_Alright. Next question. Why are you showing and telling me all of this?"_

"_Why? Because I love to see you suffer, of course! What else would be the reason?" Dark Lucy laughed._

"_Knowing you're personality, I should've guessed that." Lucy sighed. She's worried. Worried that this Dark Lucy is really a part of her. What if she suddenly takes over and attacks her teammates? Seeing the scene last time, she single handedly defeated all of them, including Erza._

"_So, do you have anymore questions?" Dark Lucy grinned._

"_Are you strong?"_

_Dark Lucy blinked. She honestly didn't expect her to ask._

"_Am I strong? I dunno exactly, since I'm always confined at the back of your head, but I guess so, stronger than yourself."_

"_Final question. Is it possible that you take over my body?"_

"_I dunno, too. I never bothered to, but might will, since it was me who killed them. Want me to play it in front of you? How they were killed?"_

"_No thanks…"_

"_Aww, but it's really pretty, with lots of blood in it."_

_Lucy was starting to get nauseous. "Really, no thanks…"_

_Suddenly Dark Lucy's face was in front of hers, inches before their noses touch. "Don't you ever think that I'm just a fragment of your imagination, Lucy, because I most definitely am not. And don't bother going to your friends for help, because even if they want to, they can't, and do you want them to know that it's you who will kill them? They're own precious nakama, betrayed them? Not that I'm bothered with it, though it will make them cautious around you, which in turn will make them harder to kill." She grinned, her expression insane._

_Lucy took a step back in horror. "You…"_

"_Remember, Lucy, I will always be here, watching." As she finished, a sword appeared in her hand and she thrust it toward Lucy's abdomen._

~o~O~o~O~o~O~o~

Lucy woke up screaming again, and Natsu was immediately by her side. The others didn't expect of her to have another nightmare, but looking at how she had one last night, it's possible that she'd have another one tonight.

"Another disturbing dream?" Erza asked.

Lucy nodded as she tried to calm down. "S-sorry waking you all u-up again…"

"It's not your fault, Lucy-san. Here, why don't I help you treat your nightmares? Though it's just temporary, it might help you have at least a few days of dreamless sleep. This should be better than last time."

"Thank you, Wendy." She said gratefully and the young dragon slayer just smiled.

After Wendy was done, Lucy felt sleepy, and Natsu didn't leave her side until she was deeply asleep.

When the others were sleeping again, Sapphire glanced at Charle, who nodded, and then Eric, who knew about it.

They need to do something about that. Another problem.

* * *

><p>So, when I checked the saved file in my laptop, this chapter actually exceeded 100 KB! The last chapter was 96! Yay! And FYI, I'm still using Word 2003, since my laptop uses Windows XP, not Windows 7 or Vista. Though I wish I could use Windows 7. 8 would be nice...<p>

Anyway, what do you think? Please leave a review! Thanks a bunch!


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